


Drapetomania

by littleredbean



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Blood and Violence, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Death, Drinking, Eventual Relationships, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Getting to Know Each Other, Gun Violence, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Multi, Serious Injuries, Smoking, Strangers, Swearing, Team Dynamics, Teamwork, Underage Drinking, Underage Smoking, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2020-05-12 02:06:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 32
Words: 94,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19219393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleredbean/pseuds/littleredbean
Summary: drapetomania(n.) an overwhelming urge to run awayIn the year 2032, a zombie apocalypse swept over the whole world. It was everyone for themselves as they fought to protect and survive.In the midst of it all, twenty-one men stayed close as they tried their hardest to stay alive.They started as strangers, but slowly became a team.Only time will separate the survivors from the sufferers.





	1. Prologue

_"A famous character in a film once said, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get." And in many ways, life is like that. Things will happen that you won't be expecting. You may turn a corner and find a pot of gold or open a box and find a pile of shit."_

All of the men who milled about in the abandoned house that one by one they coincidentally happened upon had listened to the eldest man's, Taeil's, words, and thought they had found that pot of gold.

Initially, they did.

An old abandoned house in the middle of nowhere? Perfect. Especially in the middle of a living dead massacre.

But it becomes less perfect when more and more people arrive.

That's what each of them thought when they first realised that their group suddenly consisted of twenty-one males, the youngest seventeen, the oldest twenty-four.

How did they all end up like this? How did Taeyong, the appointed leader of the group, decide that as soon as the youngest boy walked through the door, _he_ was going to be the last one?

"Twenty-one is _enough,"_ he had said to the others. Miraculously, no one else had found it.

They spent their last night in the house before the morning after brought about a long trek away from the derelict building and into a nearby forest.

Taeil, Johnny, Taeyong and Yuta, the four eldest, sat in the lounge, having a beer and smoking on a cigarette each. Mostly in silence, but with an odd comment or two about the _lasting effects of this crisis._ Or as the other older males would say, _a bitchy complaint about something that can't be controlled._

Kun, who hadn't got used to the state of the kitchen even after three weeks, fiddled with a lighter and the gas stove. He internally chastised the previous owners for never having upgraded, then reminded himself that he wouldn't have to use this stove again.

Doyoung and Chittaphon, who everyone simply called Ten, were sitting nearby, keeping him company, while also not helping. The three of them had developed an interesting relationship that the others couldn't quite understand; Taeyong had once described it as, _they knew each other in their past life, or something._

Jaehyun passed by the scene, opening the cupboards for any scrap of a snack to eat. Kun explained there was next to nothing, only a half eaten bag of crisps that he was certain one of the "kids" were eating.

Sicheng, who everyone called Winwin as a way for them not to know his real name, sat in the dining room beside Jungwoo; he talked the younger boy through all of the weapons he had in his backpack: a handgun and a knife. _How exciting,_ Ten had mocked.

Lucas and Mark were also in the living room, but weren't engaging in smoking. They _did_ get to share a beer with Johnny and Taeyong, however.

Xiao Jun and Hendery occupied themselves in the office with Renjun, the three of them sharing stories of the living dead that they had read in comics and watched on TV and how they differed from real life. Hendery was eating the snacks.

Jeno had walked past them and caught their chat, calling it boring before meeting up with Donghyuck and Jaemin. The trio were busy sharpening their knives out back while six pairs of eyes watched from afar.

The eyes of YangYang, Chenle and Jisung to be precise. They wanted so badly to learn how to protect themselves from walkers, but were constantly held back by a scolding Kun. _If you let_ **_any_ ** _of them, especially those three anywhere near a gun, Taeil, I swear I will make you spontaneously combust._

_It won't be so spontaneous then, will it?_

The stress levels were too high as it is. The younger man often kept to himself but when it came to the three youngest teenagers he had his boundaries. But the three of them were willing to push their luck.

"Ever learned how to throw a knife before?" Jaemin quizzed Jisung, the youngest of the three.

"N-No," the boy stuttered.

"Wanna learn how?"

Jisung gulped and stared at Chenle and YangYang. As much as he was eager, he was incredibly nervous. The two boys beside him encouraged him and Jisung stood up to take the knife when he was caught.

"Uh, excuse me, what are you doing?"

The youngest boy jumped back as Kun raised an eyebrow at him, impatient for an answer.

"He was gonna learn how to throw a knife," Jeno muttered under his breath, blowing on his blade quickly before going back to honing, not breaking eye contact with it for a second.

Kun stared at the boy who was offering the lesson by way of attempting to hand Jisung the knife. "Nope, not happening."

"Oh, come on," Taeyong called out as he emerged from inside the house, "you gotta let the kids learn how to defend themselves."

All six of them rolled their eyes at the fact they were called "kids". Kun saw these eye rolls, "Listen, you're still teenagers, basically still children. You shouldn't be doing stuff, well," he touched the blade of the knife Jaemin was holding like it was a soiled tissue, "like this!" He took his hand away with a disgusted look.

Taeyong tapped out a random tune on the top part of the door frame and chuckled, "How did you get past day one? Did you even kill any walkers?"

Kun clenched his jaw and stared at him with eyes that screamed _if looks could kill they probably will._

Kun then pushed past Taeyong and went back to the kitchen.

The redhead squeezed his eyes shut as the story came back to him. How could he have said something like that?

The younger boys all stared at Taeyong at silence and he gave them a weak smile in return.

"Fucked that up, didn't you?" Yuta announced from behind him, the older man sighing in defeat. "Look, we all told each other about when we had to do a bit of messed up shit, he'll come around."

Yuta placed a hand on Taeyong's shoulder as the teenagers awkwardly resumed their activities.

Pulling him away from the group, they returned to the living room where, on the way, the older man tried to catch Kun's eyes to deliver an apologetic stare.

When they met each other's gaze, the younger man was still vexed, but deep down he wasn't angry.

That's what happens when you have to learn to trust a large group of people way too fast.

\--

Dinner was silent, as it usually was, with only a few comments about their plans making their way across the group.

"I heard heading North... it's dangerous," Mark disclosed through a mouthful of food. There wasn't much to go around, each of them having a small bowl of chickpeas and sharing it because there were only six bowls lying around. They had already packed what little food they could travel with, so Kun said it was chickpeas or nothing.

And a bowl of _anything_ at that point was honestly better than starvation.

Taeyong stared at Mark for a few seconds. "What?"

"I don't think we should head North." The two of them had a staring competition as everyone looked back and forth between them.

"Why not?"

"I just heard it's dangerous!"

Suddenly, a debate back and forth then broke out as Taeyong rubbed his temples. Their voices got louder and louder until, "Enough! Everyone please, shut, the _fuck,_ up!"

Everybody instantly quieted down as Taeyong continued in a seething voice, "We are _sticking_ to our _original_ plan, and that is, we start heading _North,_ and once we get to where we need to be, we head _East._ Does everyone understand?"

Mark was about to protest when the older man held his hand up and cut in, "I have heard your concerns, Mark, I will take them into account, now if you'll excuse me, I need to go rid myself of a pounding fucking headache."

Taeyong stood up and stormed out of the room, leaving twenty humans stunned.

Jungwoo then innocently asked, "What's eating him then?"

\--

That night, they all retired to their rooms or the sofas in the living room. There wasn't much space so they had to make do, much like everything else they had to ration.

Floors had never looked so comfortable before.

It was late, and while they didn't have to deal with any walkers that day, it was never too late.

It could never be _too_ late.

Lying in positions that were definitely not good for their posture, they all tried to let sleep take over, when a sudden banging could be heard at the window.

Irregular, accompanied by the horrible growling noise that only the living dead could make.

It was directly outside the front of the house, and the knocking came from the main living room window.

The four oldest men who were sleeping in the same room slowly got up. Taeyong turned the only lamp that worked in the house on and Johnny grabbed his baseball bat off the ground; he approached the walker, who was fighting its way through the boards on the window.

Once he had gotten close enough, he lifted the bat and struck the walker in the head multiple times, until Taeil stepped forward with the knife from his backpack and pushed Johnny aside lightly to stab the walker right between the eyes.

The knife nearly went clean through, and as he pulled it out the walker fell over the boards that still covered the window.

The two of them breathed heavily, the two behind letting out a sigh of relief. That's when they heard Sicheng's voice coming down the stairs.

"Guys... they're _everywhere._ And they're approaching _fast."_ The fear was present in his voice as the other men came down the stairs, some carrying torches.

The four males turned to him before they heard more growling coming from outside.

"We need to get out of here," Taeyong announced.

"What, and head into an ongoing swarm of the things? No, thank you!" Jaehyun refused.

"If we stay here, there's a high chance that they will manage to break in and eat us all. We need to think fast and plan an escape route."

"We don't have time to plan escape routes!" Ten fretted.

"So you'd rather die?" This question stopped Ten from arguing further as they shared a piercing gaze. "Then let's make this quick. You three," Taeyong began, pointing at the three other men in the living room, "Jaehyun, Lucas, Winwin, Jungwoo and Mark, you help make sure that no more of them monsters can get in."

Jungwoo looked petrified as Mark pulled him along to the rest of the group. He offered his knife while he took out his own gun. Jaehyun, Lucas and Sicheng, who were already carrying weapons, followed the rest of them downstairs and into another part of the house where more could be seen coming.

"Doyoung, Kun, Ten, come with me. The rest of you stay upstairs. Do _not_ come downstairs under _any_ circumstances."

Half of the teenagers looked peeved that they couldn't help, the younger half still scared despite surviving weeks of this.

They had just never come across such a large number.

Kun agreed with the latter instruction and turned to them, "Do as he says, go back upstairs," before joining Doyoung, Ten and Taeyong in the kitchen.

"How much ammo do you have, Mark?" Johnny asked.

"Six. Gotta use them wisely." The boy then took the opportunity to use the back end of the gun to knock a walker out.

Jungwoo stood, unsure of what to do as he held the knife tentatively in his hand.

Taeil turned to him and thought, "Jungwoo don't just--!" It then came back to him. "Just…it will be okay," he reassured. The younger man's face screwed up in disgust and he felt nauseous as he witnessed the men around him beat the walkers within an inch of their lives.

 _Lives._ The irony.

"That one's weak but it could come back. Take care of that one, Jungwoo," Yuta encouraged, "and if it suddenly attacks we'll help you."

The blonde-haired boy was confused, still not knowing why he trusted these people he only met three weeks ago with his life. But he didn't have time to think about it.

He etched towards the debilitated walker who was stuck on the borderline between living dead and dead. Holding the handle of the knife with two hands, he lifted it above his head, but was stopped by a force telling him not to do it, that was a person, he had no right, it was unfair, he couldn't…

Before he could think anymore, his kill was taken right from under his nose by the sound of an impatient shot.

Jungwoo sank to his knees, helpless. There was no budging him, so the other four worked around him, shouting "Move!" every so often.

In the office, Jaehyun, Sicheng and Lucas effortlessly fought off the walkers that came from the left side of the house and approached the window. Jaehyun was armed with an ax, Sicheng a long dagger, and Lucas a shovel from the garden. Sicheng had placed the small torch he was holding on the desk, the light pointing upwards.

Blood splattered everywhere as they tried to not get bitten; Jaehyun swung at the neck of one and took its head clean off, earning looks of approval from the other two.

Sicheng stabbed one in the eye before kicking it, sending it falling backwards, as Lucas hit another in the face before impaling it with the sharp end of the shovel.

As Sicheng tried to take another walker out, it grabbed him by the wrist and started pulling him; he let out a scream as he tried to stop the walker, whose mouth was coming dangerously close to his arm.

Jaehyun and Lucas were fast as the former swung his ax down onto its wrist, cutting it off cleanly. The hand was still wrapped around Sicheng's arm and Lucas helped to get it off before they continued fighting.

In the kitchen, Taeyong, Doyoung, Kun and Ten figured out the best way to escape from the house.

"We could split up!" Doyoung put forward.

"Absolutely not, we run the risk of some of us never making it!" Kun retaliated.

"We absolutely have to stay together," said Taeyong, "no matter what."

Ten thought about it, "What did the people in all those old zombie games do?"

The three men opposite straightened their backs and looked at him unknowingly with a raised eyebrow.

"They covered themselves with zombie guts and just ploughed through the swarm! I think that's what we should do."

Kun grimaced at the idea, the other two considered it for a second then nodded at one another. "Let's do it," Doyoung agreed.

Disgusted, Kun folded his arms and let out an obvious noise of disapproval. The other three glared at him: _have you got any better ideas?_

The young man admitted defeat and sighed, "I'll go and explain the plan to the boys upstairs."

"We'll go tell the three in the office," Doyoung said, Ten nodding and following along.

Taeyong shouted to the other men in the room, "Retreat, and bring some of those things with you. We'll need them."

Upstairs, nine guys sat in one of the bedrooms, half of them bored, the other half scared.

Kun entered the room urgently and knelt down in front of them, Jaemin's eyes lighting up at the prospect of being allowed to assist, when the older male explained the situation and the plan.

"So we're gonna cover ourselves in blood and guts and shit to get out of here?" Hendery asked directly.

Kun nodded, "That's essentially it."

"It actually works, guys! You ever played those old zombie games from years ago? Before we were even around, people used zombie guts to get out of a whole crowd of them. You have to be careful and vigilant though," Xiao Jun explained to seven near-deaf ears, Kun and Renjun being the only ones who paid any real attention.

Jaemin waved off the explanation by asking, "So how are we gonna do this? Got some dead walkers already?"

Kun didn't need to answer the question because out of nowhere the rest of the group entered, four of them carrying corpses on their shoulders.

"This should be enough for all of us. We've managed to stop them coming through the front but we've got a limited amount of time," the leader explained.

Donghyuck crawled up to one walker but was knocked back by the worst stench imaginable emanating from the body. "You expect _us_ to spread _this_ shit all over our bodies?"

"As much as possible," Taeil responded as the rest of the group filed in, Mark and Jungwoo being the last.

Once they were all inside, they got to work; slicing down the middle of one corpse, Johnny shuddered as he reached in and pulled a pile of innards out to spread all over his torso.

The rest of the group mimicked this, all over their arms, legs, hands, front and back. They all squirmed under the feeling and felt uncomfortable, but knew that they had to do it. From head to toe they were suitably ready to leave and move to the forest a lot earlier than they had expected or would have liked (and far more dangerous), but it was a necessary course of action.

They then set about figuring out how they were going to get away. Jaehyun suggested that because walkers liked noise, they should set something up to direct every walker to the front so they could sneak out of the back.

Chenle tapped his chin, before clicking his fingers and running out of the room. Everyone's eyes followed him as he ran into another room and found an old, shabby keyboard with more than half of the keys broken. He hadn't used it, but always saw and it wondered if it worked.

"One of you! Come help me with this!"

YangYang being the closest went into the room and saw Chenle toying with the keyboard.

"Whoa! Where did you find that?"

Curiously, the rest of the team went to see what was going on and saw the two males lifting each end of the keyboard.

"Over there!" Chenle answered, his head indicating the small open cupboard where the object once resided. "Over to the bed," he instructed.

"You plan to play the piano? On a keyboard with nearly _no_ keys?" asked Jeno, puzzled as Chenle and YangYang placed the keyboard onto the bed.

The young boy side-eyed him, _"No…_ keyboards come with music. If this works, we could play one of the pieces of music and turn up the volume."

"Okay, fine, but I doubt it works."

Chenle breathed deeply, feeling the pressure of forty pairs of eyes when he pushed the _on/off_ button and found that nothing happened.

 _'Of course,'_ he lamented, _'it would be too perfect if it worked.'_

"Great, well, thanks for that, Chenle, onto plan B--"

"Now hold on," Kun cut in. He stepped forward and inspected the keyboard to a wave of frustrated sighs.

"Kun we _really_ do not have time for this--" Taeyong warned.

"Batteries. Go find _two_ batteries. Double As, there should be some spare."

"On it!" Mark shouted before he ran away from Jungwoo's side who attempted to pull him back but found he couldn't. He let him go before moving to stand by Lucas' side.

"Are we really going to do this?" Yuta asked.

"It's the only chance we've got."

Chenle glanced up at Kun with a grateful smile that was returned.

Downstairs, Mark scaled the kitchen cupboards for a box of batteries that he could have sworn he saw a day or so ago. He had taken two out to power his torch, and there were only four left.

He prayed for everyone's sake that no one had taken those two remaining batteries.

Determined, he opened up one, two, three cupboard doors, before he opened the fourth one and found them there in the back corner. He grabbed the half torn open box and took the batteries out, when he heard the pounding on the front door get louder and louder.

The growling noises got progressively worse and took over Mark's brain, memories flooding back to him.

He had to think fast: if he moved quickly, he could run into them and risk getting caught as a human, if he stayed put and waited, he wouldn't be able to get the batteries to them, and they could all be eaten.

He suddenly felt paralysed.

"Mark? Mark!" Johnny shouted. "We need those batteries, the walkers are closing in!"

But Mark couldn't move. The heavier the battering on the wood became, the more he felt like he would become infected just by the sound alone.

 _"Mark!_ What is--" Johnny began from the top of the stairs, before he realised the situation. "Oh fuck, guys…?"

At that moment, the walkers managed to burst through the door and enter the house.

Everything fell silent. Still. Not a single person moved.

Mark stood frozen, his ears transfixed on the beings' sounds as they entered the house.

If he was distracted, dealing with the monsters and the noises they made was fine. But this moment felt like he had just been trapped, confined in a space where the only thing he could hear was the sound of screaming.

But he cautiously looked down at the batteries and gulped, knowing what he had to do.

With all of his courage, he moved one leg, then the other, towards the direction of the swarm, and started slowly walking.

Upstairs, all twenty males held their breath.

Some of them tightly shut their eyes as a thousand anxious thoughts trespassed. They waited for a sign. Something that would tell them where Mark was, or what he was doing.

Jungwoo clasped a hand over his mouth as he tried not to cry. The two of them had become so close, that the thought of losing him so soon after meeting him tore him apart from the inside.

Johnny struggled to stay put at the top of the stairs, his urge to grab a weapon and save Mark from the horde at critical levels.

The young man downstairs crept towards the mob, his heart beating abnormally fast at irregular beats per minute. Once he saw them, he bit down on his bottom lip hard. His hands were numb yet especially clammy, his black hair sticking to his forehead and his legs just barely able to move.

It was perfect, because it meant that he remained undetected as he made his way through the house.

Reaching the side of the staircase, a good portion of the mob behind him, he saw more walkers outside approaching the stairs to the house. He fought the impulsive nature of his feet to take him away from the threat and up the stairs quickly, as he gradually made his way to the bottom of the steps.

Gazing up, he and Johnny locked eyes; Mark still had the batteries in his hand that he kept firmly placed in his palm, and Johnny placed a finger to his lips in a silent _ssh_ formation as Mark attempted to climb the stairs.

First step. Second step. Third step. _Squeak._

Everybody stopped dead. The only other sound apart from that of the walkers that could be heard was that of the step that creaked underneath Mark’s foot.

A million silent prayers were made as Mark continued up the stairs.

Fifth step. Six step. A louder squeak.

Johnny swallowed the lump in his throat as the younger male felt a tear prick at the corner of his eye. No one else could move. They knew they couldn’t bring too much attention to themselves.

Mark suddenly decided he couldn’t go further and held the batteries out to Johnny. The older male stared at him, confused and worried, but Mark insisted.

Johnny took the batteries, and the younger male stared at him, his eyes saying, _trust me._

He passed the two little cylinders back to Jaehyun who was standing behind him. Jaehyun nodded at both of them before passing them to Ten. Ten then passed them to Jaemin, who passed them to Jeno, who passed them to Jungwoo, then to Lucas, then to Kun.

As quietly as he and Chenle could, they lifted the keyboard and held it in place while the older male placed the batteries in it. The keyboard switched on and, picking up on the plan, they lifted it, passing it back along the group with some difficulty.

Jaehyun and Johnny held it before they passed it down to Mark.

How they managed to do it with nearly zero commotion was a mystery to them, but they all understood the gravity of the situation.

To his left, he could see that the large mass of walkers going into the house had stopped; dozens of them wandered around in the living room, the kitchen, and the corridor to the left of the staircase. Mark was certain that one of them had spotted him, but he saw that the walkers were preoccupied by the only light that worked in the entire house. He then turned to his right and saw that some of the walkers were surrounding the torch in the office.

Johnny helped keep the other end of the keyboard up as an idea came into the younger male's head.

He mouthed to Johnny while motioning with his hand: _lighter._ The older male immediately understood and turned to the rest of the group, making the same silent movements.

Taeil reached into his pocket and pulled out his old-fashioned lighter. It was the only personal effect he had when he left home, and he couldn't bear to part ways with it.

However, he had picked up on Mark's plan, and knew that his lighter was the only one that would be suitable for what the young man was planning on doing.

Taeil ran his thumb over the engraved letters that read:

_Happy Birthday, Taeil_

_\- Love, Dad._

The pool of tears that circled around his eyes felt salty and stung, attaching themselves to his lashes. He held the lighter close to his lips and pecked the lid, staring straight into Johnny's eyes.

He had to make this sacrifice.

Passing it forward to Sicheng, who passed it on to Jaehyun, then to Johnny, then Mark, his eyes found the ceiling as he tried not to break down, a reassuring rub of the shoulder coming from Yuta beside him.

_'I love you, Dad.'_

Mark took the lighter and found the words written on it. He nearly dissolved into tears as he flicked it open and pushed down. They all knew there was no going back for it, and that the lighter would be engulfed by the flames it made itself.

_'Taeil's so brave.'_

He took the keyboard and placed it down on the step in front of him carefully. Opening the lighter, he pressed down and hoped that what he was thinking would work.

Looking to his left, he threw the lighter into the living room, where it landed perfectly on the couch and quickly set fire to the material.

The fire spread with ease and the walkers became fascinated. Suddenly, the walkers that were milling about in the corridor, turned to approach the fire.

Mark had to act fast.

He picked up the keyboard as several anxious faces stared down at him. Slowly, he trod backwards down the stairs, making sure he didn't knock the sides of the keyboard on the banisters.

Once he reached the bottom, he turned carefully and took deliberate steps towards where the front door had been knocked down. He placed the keyboard down and turned his head to the left, then to the right. There were so many walkers out back, and he knew this keyboard wouldn't be loud enough to distract _them._

He decided the fire was enough before he spun round to view the others who were already making their way down the stairs.

Mark held up his hands, silently asking them to brace themselves. Around him, walkers were either being set alight, or growing less interested by the torchlight that was definitely going to run out of power soon.

As Johnny descended the stairs, being careful of the two squeaky steps by going over them, he approached a nervous Mark who pointed towards where the back passage was open.

Johnny nodded and turned to the rest of the guys, who diligently followed their lead. Mark stood to the side, nearer to the open office, and directed the group one by one down the stairs and past the office.

Johnny passed through at a steady pace with ease. Jaehyun was next. Ten. Sicheng. Jaemin. Upstairs, Kun noiselessly instructed the rest of the teenagers to follow Jaemin, and Taeil mouthed that he would go last as the oldest.

Jeno. Renjun. Jisung. Xiao Jun. Hendery. Donghyuck. YangYang. Chenle reluctantly followed. Lucas then descended, Jungwoo clung tightly onto him. The torch was flickering. Doyoung. Kun. Taeyong. Taeil.

He went to grab Mark's wrist but the younger male had something to do first.

He approached the keyboard, hearing nearly inaudible pleas from Taeil behind him.

Through gritted teeth, Taeil whispered, "Mark...come on...let's go…"

Mark held his hand up before pressing the button on the keyboard that said _SONG BANK._

He turned up the volume, and _Ode to Joy_ began playing out of the speakers. He breathed in and out before turning around to meet Taeil.

As the two of them left the house, the walkers behind them who heard the music became drawn to keyboard. The two of them slowed down their walking to match that of the swarm as they followed the remainder of who they could see from their group in the crowd.

Mark temporarily stopped, the sound taking over his senses. He then felt Taeil's arm around his shoulder and looked up at him in near-shock.

The older man looked down at him. His eyes held a nameless emotion that the younger one couldn't quite describe with words while also knowing exactly what they said.

_We're in this together. You helped me. I will help you._

Mark felt safe at that point. The noises didn't seem so loud or intrusive. Ahead, he saw some of the members of his team and felt thankful that they had all met.

The others thought the same way. As much as they were hostile towards each other in the beginning, they found out over the past three weeks that they needed one another.

They had to learn how to work together, and discovered that they made a very good team. A team that had arguments and fought a lot, but a team with twenty-one people who suddenly didn't know where they each would be without the other twenty.

Johnny was the first to enter the forest, Jaehyun following close behind, and they waited for everyone to arrive.

Like second nature they gravitated towards one another and congregated under a large tree.

Taeil and Mark were the last to appear. When they were together again, they turned to view the place they called "home" for the past three weeks. Fire had reached the outside walls and smoke billowed from the roof.

"Say goodbye, friends," Renjun choked out a humourless laugh.

All of them regarded one another, especially Renjun at him calling them friends.

Truthfully, they had never referred to one another as anything past strangers they had to learn to trust, but when Taeyong brought them all in to stand in a circle, they saw each other on the same level for perhaps the first time in those three weeks.

They saw eye to eye, and completely understood each other.

Without any words, they began shedding tears and held and hugged one another.

After a couple of minutes of this, Taeyong pulled away from the group and announced that they had to set up camp for the night.

And for once, a chore felt enjoyable.

Lighting a campfire was risky, but they found a spot deep enough in the forest near a tiny lake where they could easily put it out if needed.

Sat around the dwindling flame, they huddled in comfortable silence. Most of them had managed to escape with their backpacks, meaning Kun had his bag with the leftover food.

He took out the three energy bars and shared them around. It was only a bite each but it was something of substance.

They discussed lookout shifts, and talked deep into the night about everything and nothing.

For a short period of time, things felt normal.

It didn't feel like they were constantly awaiting an oncoming threat from walkers that could eat them or other groups who could potentially kill them.

They were just a group of twenty-one men who had found each other.

They knew their plan. In the morning, things would go back to how they were just hours before. In the morning, they would be heading North, then East.

So they treasured this moment of reprieve while it lasted, their minds emptying for a short time.

In the morning, they would be going back into the fray.

And they had to be prepared for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twitter: @littleredbean37


	2. Part 1 | Taeil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/be1bd46c5a3078c2c0ebc96528662e99/tumblr_inline_pt83vmjoMr1seo5ti_540.png)

**PART 1**

 

_ “Before things went to shit, I had a mother, a father, and a girlfriend I loved so much. _

_ I wanted nothing more than to save them. I could only save my girlfriend. _

_ Running away while the monsters ate my parents alive tore me to shreds. _

_ I felt terrible for months. My girlfriend kept reminding me that they wouldn’t want me to feel guilty. That I had no choice. That I did what I had to. _

_ Well, fuck that. Nothing will ever make me angrier than not being able to save them. _

_ I remember I woke up one day to see her lying next to me and I heard her whisper, “Taeil...will things ever get better?” _

_ I saw that she hadn’t slept at all, and that she’d been crying for hours. _

_ I held her close and stroked her hair while she laid her head on my chest, tears still falling and I said, “I don’t know, baby.” Fuck, I couldn’t lie. Things were terrible. We had to grovel to a small group of people just days prior so they would let us stay for a few days. They reluctantly let us. _

_ That was the last night we spent together; the next day I saw her get turned into one of those...things. _

_ She meant the world to me. My hand shook as I lifted the gun, my heart racing, I couldn’t stop crying, not for a single second. _

_ I had to do it, but I couldn’t. One of the other members of the group had to take over while they saw me fall down to my knees, the only sound being the shot that nearly ruptured my eardrum. _

_ That’s when I decided I had to leave. I found another group, about a week later. I was always bouncing to and fro. Only spent a short time with them too. I left and, about an hour later found this place.” _

\--

Taeil flicked his lighter open and pushed down, bringing the flame that erupted to the end of his cigarette.

Bitter, angry, dejected. He inhaled and took the cigarette between his fore and middle finger to remove it and exhale. He stared down at the coffin nail, his fingers, hands and arms dirty from dealing with a horde of walkers just minutes before. 

Without fail, he always took the time to light a cigarette after facing them, saying that it took the edge off. People around him either joined him, or chastised him for getting stuck in a useless addiction. He never smoked before the apocalypse, but did it for the first time after he lost his parents. It wasn’t Taeil’s intention, but felt too spiteful about the situation to care.

Looking around, he scoped out the area in front of the place where he had been staying for the past week. The early dawn sky set a nice backdrop and seemed appropriate: red with dark grey clouds to accompany it.

_ Red sky in the morning, shepherds’ warning. _

Taeil scoffed at the phrase that popped into his head; he wasn’t superstitious, but he knew for a fact that he had to move on from where he was staying. Getting too comfortable could mean trouble.

It had been six months since it all started. Taeil was surprised he had survived that long, but attributed it to his constant moving about from group to group after having the tendency to stick with them for a short time.

Losing his parents and girlfriend within the space of three weeks made the catastrophe extremely lonely.

After finishing his cigarette, he dropped it and stamped on it a couple of times to put it out completely before stepping inside.

The leader in the group that he was soon to be leaving was awake, and said to him, “All good, Taeil?”

The young man nodded meekly, “All good,” he mumbled.

The older man opposite approached him and patted him on the back a few times, before going past him to leave and have a cigarette of his own. Taeil breathed out. He needed to go.

Moving to his bedroom in the tiny, quite insecure house that he shared with the leader, he picked up his backpack and placed it on the bed. Packing up his few belongings, he closed the bag up and placed it on his shoulder. With a sigh, he left the bedroom and the rest of the sleeping men behind as he went downstairs and out the back door.

He headed right and continued walking until he turned and saw the leader on the front porch, exhaling the smoke and coughing loudly.

Taeil felt guilty leaving without a goodbye or a thank you, but he couldn’t waste time with formalities. That’s when the older man turned his head to the left and caught Taeil’s eye.

From far away, it seemed to the young man that the leader knew that he had to leave and understood why he was leaving. This was further confirmed by the old man giving a wave from the front porch, which Taeil returned before turning on his heels and beginning his journey.

Taeil took his time moving across the field that he was trekking along. He stuck to footpaths and stayed within shaded areas as the sun started to rise in the sky.

In the distance, he saw a few walkers milling about, finding fresh flesh to feast on. He managed to hide from them with ease and hop across a stream that he came across.

The sun continued to rise as he approached a small forest, with only a few tall trees and some bushes with twigs that stuck out. Taking the knife out of the holder on his left hip, he effortlessly cut through the sticks and twigs as he made his way through the forest.

Suddenly, he heard growling come from behind him.

The forest was extremely contained, and there was no easy escape. He couldn’t go left or right. There was only forward.

There were crunching sounds behind him and the growling noises got louder as he contemplated what to do. He didn’t know whether to turn and take care of the oncoming swarm, or run for his life until he was out of the forest.

There wasn’t much time to think, and once he almost felt the breath of a walker on his neck, he started sprinting.

Either side of him, walkers noticed him running and began following him. Taeil didn’t stop until he was out of the forest and several metres away from the herd.

Stopping to take a breath, he felt a sharp sting hit his side, making him keel over again and groan in pain. But he had to keep running.

Pushing through the pain, he kept going until he was certain that he had lost them, pressing his back against the closest tree he could find.

Breathing in and out deeply, his chest rising and falling, Taeil took a few minutes to calm down and process everything that just happened. He slipped the knife back into its holder and rested his hands on his thighs, bending over slightly.

When he looked up, he could see a building ahead.

Taeil placed his hands above his eyes and stared intently at the building. He tried to work out what it was from afar; he was exhausted, after having travelled for nearly an hour on foot, and was eager for a place to rest his feet for a while.

Slowly, he approached the building - the closer he got, the more he realised that it was a fairly big house out in the middle of nowhere.

From the outside, it looked derelict, dishevelled, and seemed to Taeil like it would be abandoned.

_ ‘Let me not get my hopes up.’ _

He cautiously drew nearer to the house, and pulled the gun out of his back pocket.

Closing in on the house, he saw that the front door was shut, the windows were cracked, but that the steps were in surprisingly decent condition. He raised an eyebrow and carefully climbed the steps, not wanting to draw attention to himself in case the house was occupied.

Taeil firmly held the gun in his left hand as his right hand reached for the door knob; turning it, he anxiously tried opening the door to find it was unlocked.

He poked the front of the gun in the crack of the door, and shouted, “Hello? Anyone here?”

When there was no response, he opened the door fully and stepped inside, shutting it behind him. Returning his other hand to the base of his gun, he searched the downstairs area for any sign of life. Or walkers.

Astonishingly, Taeil found the coast to be clear downstairs.

Reaching the bottom of the steps, he called up, “Hello?” before starting to climb them, hearing a couple of squeaks before making it to the top of the stairs.

“Anyone?” he spoke again, as he inspected the rooms.

He exited the last room in shock; the house was completely abandoned.

_ ‘Well that’s a stroke of luck.’ _

Taeil came down the stairs again and took one last look before deciding he was content with his findings. He tested the lights in the house and,  _ unsurprisingly,  _ none of them worked, apart from one single light in the living room that gave off a dim, yellow hue.

He sat on one of the old, dusty sofas in the living room and brought his backpack round to his front. Placing it between his knees, he opened it and took out a bottle of vodka with only half the contents left and took a sip. It wasn’t the best choice of drink, but it was better than nothing. Taeil hoped to find water soon, but assumed nothing would be working if most of the electricity didn’t work, thus there would be no water in the house.

He sat back and let his head rest on the top of the couch.

_ ‘Time for another cigarette,’  _ Taeil thought, before he pulled out his box and the old zippo lighter his Dad gave him. Putting another cigarette to his lips, he lit it, and inhaled.  
  



	3. Part 1 | Johnny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/fcead7209fc37b85b155d34865c0c669/tumblr_inline_pt98guiENZ1seo5ti_540.png)

_“I was halfway through my last year of uni when shit hit the fan._

_The university building became our bunker. We stayed there for two months until it was totally taken over by walkers. Me, my girlfriend and three of my best friends managed to get out. Not very many people survived from what I remember._

_We travelled for four days and four nights, we were slowly running out of food, water and energy. I was the lone survivor of the group._

_Managed to find someone, they saw that I was close to death and they didn’t have to help me but they helped anyway. They took me in. I was the youngest of the group. We were pretty close knit too, they actually saw me as a son. We stayed together for a long time, nearly four months to be exact._

_One night, a group of them left to check out the surrounding area. I went to bed that night, still torn up over what happened to my girlfriend, my friends... The next morning I woke up and..._

_I didn’t know it was him. It was early morning and I heard noise and...I panicked._

_I fled, I only had a kitchen knife, a box of cigarettes and my skateboard. I used it to get everywhere. I only got so far with it before someone broke it. Don’t ask. I then walked the rest of the way and, that’s how I came across this place.”_

\--

Johnny slammed the lid of the beer bottle down onto the countertop to remove it, sending it flying across the surface. He lifted it to his lips and took a drink, the taste hitting him faster than usual.

Irritable, downhearted and resentful. He held his late girlfriend’s mustard yellow jumper close to him; the one she removed before being attacked as it was _too warm._

_Time heals all wounds._

Johnny certainly hadn’t felt that way, but begrudgingly accepted for the first time that it was true. He had just been through too much to believe it in the beginning.

From behind him, an older man approached and put an arm around his shoulder.

“Things will iron themselves out, J,” he consoled.

Johnny felt tears threaten to fall, “I hope so,” he mumbled.

“They _will,_ J…! Come on,” the man pulled him along to sit down on the couch. Johnny played with the material in his hands and let the tears fall onto it, a mixture of regret and hurt filling his body.

It was silent for a few seconds before a much older man with long grey hair entered the room.

“Me and a couple of others are gonna go out, scope the area, maybe find some food. Johnny, you up for joining us?”

“Leave the boy alone, Dad, he went out last night and he’s having a rough moment.”

The older man glanced at Johnny and noticed his posture, his puffy cheeks, and the jumper that he was holding, that it seemed like he wouldn’t let go of. He sighed and moved to place a hand on Johnny’s shoulder, which the younger boy leaned into. After a short pause, he began, “Okay, Johnny can stay here. We’ll head out, we’ll be back late into the night.”

The next few hours were spent playing card games, drinking and talking, Johnny consuming three bottles of beer.

After the fifth game of poker, Johnny stood, jumper still in hand, and decided to retire to his room. The group hadn’t returned, and the moon being at its highest in the sky told Johnny that it was around midnight.

Tired, he bid the remainder of the group goodnight and retired to his room.

Laying down on the bed, he turned to his right to face the wall and held the jumper close to him. For the first time, he allowed himself the chance to cry.

Memories flooded back to him as he thought about his years at university before the catastrophe started. The moments in the converted building before the swarm.

He shut his eyes tight and tried to sleep.

After a few hours he woke up at the break of dawn after a restless night.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned, getting out of bed. He neatly laid the jumper against the pillow and tiptoed out of the room, aware of the other man still asleep in the same room.

When he reached the staircase, he heard a noise. A rattling noise, and the sound of light banging.

Johnny backed into his room, and without looking, he reached down and grabbed his hand gun out from underneath his pillow. _‘How did a walker get in here with no one knowing?’_

He descended down the stairs quietly; the closer he got, the more convinced he became.

He stepped into the kitchen and saw someone standing there. It only took one low noise for Johnny, as he freaked out and lifted the gun.

One shot into the shoulder blade, and a loud piercing scream.

 _“Fuck!”_ The figure grabbed his shoulder and turned around to find the younger man standing. There were tears pouring out both pairs of eyes as Johnny dropped the gun.

“F-Fuck...God...oh...no I’m…” the words struggled to come out of Johnny’s mouth as he stumbled over the wounded older man. The same man who consoled him the night before.

_‘How could I have been so stupid?’_

At that moment, everyone else in the group came down the stairs and saw the pair of men in the kitchen. The father of the man yelled, “What the _fuck_ happened?!”

“H-He sh-sho…” the words trailed off before the grey-haired man’s son fell to the floor.

“I-I didn’t m-mean to…!” Johnny spluttered, as the old man marched over to kneel by son’s side.

“The _fuck_ have you done?”

“I-I thought he was…”

“Get out.”

Johnny stared at the older man, tears stuck to his cheeks before he looked to the rest of the group. He silently pleaded for forgiveness but it was futile.

“What is he still doing here?” the old man lowered his voice sternly. “I said, _get out!”_

Backing away from the group, who stared at him with cold, contemptuous eyes, he gazed at the man on the floor one last time before spinning around and running, taking his skateboard.

The tears didn’t stop falling as Johnny placed his skateboard down and stepped onto it. He pushed himself along then put both feet on, wiping his eyes violently.

About fifty metres down he stopped suddenly, realising that he had left behind his girlfriend’s jumper. The one thing that he held close to him.

Looking up to the sky, he coughed out a sob as the guilt rushed over him. He shook his head, but knew he couldn’t give up.

_‘For her. For him. For them.’_

Johnny began to push again, letting the wind dry out his tears and carry him along, his energy slowly dwindling, the sheer momentum being the only thing that was helping him move forward.

As he continued his journey, Johnny came across a group of people huddled around a fire just inside a forest. He felt around his pockets and pulled out the box of cigarettes he wasn’t aware he still had with him.

Stepping off his skateboard, he approached the group, who stared at him suspiciously.

“Do any of you have a lighter?” he coughed out, putting a cigarette between his lips.

One member of the group lifted an eyebrow and said, “What’s in it for us?” with a low, almost growly tone.

Another member leaned back and saw the skateboard, “We’ll have that.”

Johnny turned to see they were talking about his main mode of transport. He chuckled morosely and said, “No can do, mate.”

“Then “no can do” on the lighter, _friend._ Move along.”

Johnny sighed and turned to go back to his skateboard when he faked out and spun back around to light the end of his cigarette with the tip of the campfire.

Putting it to his lips, he said, “Cheers, _friend.”_ He locked eyes with who he thought was the leader to the point where he didn’t see one of the other members stand up and, picking up his skateboard, break it effortlessly.

Johnny shut his eyes at the sound of their laughter as he simply inhaled his cigarette and walked away from the group, opening his eyes again.

He walked for what felt like hours, despite only being less than a single hour, before he looked to his left and did a double take.

In the distance, he saw a large house, which seemed to be in good condition to Johnny from afar, yet the closer he got the more he noticed how worn out it was.

His legs felt weak as he drew nearer; he threw his cigarette to the side and exhaled the smoke. Wandering up the stairs, he went to one of the cracked windows and looked inside, hand above eyes. He then went to inspect the other side of the house before deciding it was suitably empty.

Opening the front door, he peered inside at the interior. As soon as he stepped in, he heard a creak coming from upstairs.

_‘Shit, of course, there could be someone upstairs. Idiot, Johnny.’_

He turned around to open the door when he heard a male voice.

“Hello?”

Johnny stopped dead.

“Who are you?”

Turning around, he saw the man on the stairs holding a gun up in his direction.

Johnny put his hands up and said, “I’m not evil. I’m not here to start any fights. I just found this place and was tired so I thought I’d come and check it out, but obviously...you’re already here.” The stranger stepped down the stairs and sceptically stared at him.

“You mean no trouble?”

“N-No…! I don’t...honestly, I don’t.”

The man opposite looked at Johnny from top to bottom before lowering his gun.

“Taeil. Nice to meet you,” he said, holding out his hand.

The young man was shocked, but replied with, “Johnny, n-nice to meet you too, I guess.” He hesitantly held out his hand and the man - Taeil - shook his with quite a firm grip.

“Weird finding someone out here who doesn’t want to bite your hand off,” Taeil commented.

Johnny, still taken aback by the meeting, raised his eyebrows in agreement. _‘I could say the same about you.’_

“Well, as long as you continue to not be trouble, I guess there’s no harm in you staying,” Taeil began, “how old are you, by the way?”

“Twenty-four.” Taeil replied that he was the same age, yet born a few months earlier. Johnny let out a small, slightly genuine smile, for the first time in a while.

The two of them walked shoulder to shoulder as Taeil introduced the house to Johnny.

The younger man sighed, _‘Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.’_


	4. Part 1 | Taeyong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/c72cf05252a9db54bf0e733c55a9458d/tumblr_ptb6egIJhs1seo5ti_540.png)

_"I was your typical party-goer. Here, there and everywhere. I rarely ever stayed in one spot. Always at some house party. That's where I was when it first started._

_We were just drinking, dancing and having fun when a whole group of them came bursting through the door. We had to get out of there quick. Some people tried using empty glass bottles to kill them but that proved to be worthless._

_I managed to escape with five friends. We ran to a nearby gas station and picked up anything we thought we needed before more of them showed up. It was hard going, but we stayed behind the bins at the back of that gas station. It'd been completely ripped apart by the things. The number just kept on growing._

_Much like everyone else, the walkers got hold of three of my friends and just like that they weren't my friends any longer. They were just zombies._

_Living dead things that wandered around. It was only me and one of my closest friends for the next two months…_

_The two of us decided that morning that we would raid a doctor's surgery of some of its supplies. My friend suggested we split up which, I didn't like the idea, but he insisted and that we both had weapons so we would be safe…_

_The image still comes back to me every so often. Seeing him among the crowd. I took what I had, which wasn’t much and ran, not looking back. I was starving. It must have been over an hour later, that I found this house."_

\--

Taeyong watched as his friend took a piece of rolling paper out of the packet from the bag attached to his waist and laid it down to put a heap of tobacco in it. He pushed it around and made it even before placing a filter at the opposite end and hurriedly rolling it up to pass it to Taeyong. The redhead took it and placed it between his lips; with shaky hands, he took a red lighter out of his own waist bag and pressed down, setting the end alight.

Numb, anxious and a little bad-tempered. He brought his knees to his chest and hugged them as he inhaled his cigarette a second time.

"There's a doctor's place about two and a half miles away, I think. We should go see what they got," his friend suggested, rolling up another cigarette for himself. Taeyong hummed in agreement, lips almost frozen shut from the cold.

Taeyong considered the plan; it wasn't a _bad_ idea, and walking meant not staying in one spot for several hours in the day freezing to death.

"S-Sounds good. D-Do you know where you’re g-going?" Taeyong's teeth chattered.

His friend ran a hand through his dark brown hair and began smoking on his own cigarette, “Of course. I know this place quite well.”

He looked around and saw walkers in the distance. Their location meant they couldn't be easily found, but they knew they had to move soon. Above them, the sky that was once a deep red was becoming more pale as dawn gave way to morning.

As Taeyong exhaled he closed in on himself more, searching for any scrap of warmth he could find. "We sh-should go soon."

His friend nodded and puffed out a ring of smoke before saying, "Finish this then go?" Taeyong bowed his head once.

There wasn't much talking as they finished their cigarettes and pushed the ends into the ground.

Standing up, Taeyong stretched and yawned; having only had three hours of sleep the night before, he was tired, and rubbed his eyes before his friend said, "Let's go."

"We should see if the kiosk has anything."

"It won't, Tae, we pretty much _gutted_ it months ago."

Taeyong heard his stomach's plea for food and tried his best to ignore it, the last thing he ate being half a bar of chocolate the day before. He thought that his friend was probably right, but also thought it wouldn’t hurt to check.

He walked until he was at the front of the gas station kiosk; his friend rolled his eyes and leaned against the window.

“Just give me a sec,” Taeyong whispered as he looked through the window. The glass was cracked majorly across the front of the kiosk and the doors were ajar. Inside, there were corpses strewn over the floor, the counter, and some of the shelves, blood smeared across the walls and a pungent smell spilling out through the cracks.

Taeyong searched for anything that wasn’t covered in blood, or near a walker’s body.

 _‘Shit,’_ he huffed, _‘nothing.’_

“See? Gutted. Now let’s go.”

Taeyong reluctantly stepped away, and followed in his friend’s shadow.

They began their trip to the doctor’s surgery, stopping every so often for a break and to check nearby houses or shops they came across.

As the sun rose higher in the sky, the doctor’s surgery eventually came into view.

“There it is,” Taeyong’s friend announced. The redhead gazed at the dishevelled place and sighed. They started to draw nearer when they noticed walkers banging on the front door outside.

 _“Shit,_ hide!” Taeyong whisper-shouted. They ran and ducked behind a bush before they slowly peered over the top. “How we gonna get passed those things?” he asked in a low voice.

“Maybe there’s another way in.” The dark-haired man searched around the side of the building, and found a smashed window. “If we’re careful, we could get in through there.”

Taeyong followed his eyes and stared at the window. He could see glass resting on the pane from afar. He noticed that the walkers were congregating at the front because of the flickering light in the foyer area just inside.

“We’d have to be quick. They’re attracted to the light in there, so we need to make sure they don’t notice us.” His friend nodded before Taeyong stepped in front of him and, looking back, whispered, “Follow me.”

The redhead led the way, his friend sticking close to him. Taeyong trailed alongside the bushes on his hands and knees. He stopped when he was opposite the broken window; turning his head to the left, he nodded at his friend once who mirrored his actions.

“I’ll go and quickly check if it’s safe, stay here,” Taeyong whispered to his reluctant friend, who was about to silently protest and say he would do it, but before he could, the redhead had already pushed through and moved to stand beside the window.

He peeked into the room and saw a broken computer with blood on it, displaying a static blue light, the corpse of a walker sat on the chair, medical files scattered across the desk and half of a keyboard.

_‘Someone must have used that to bash its brains in.’_

Taeyong leaned his head forward to observe the walkers before turning to his friend and beckoning him over with his hand. The younger man emerged from the bushes and came to crouch down beneath the window. Carefully, he stood up and inspected the room, noticing the glass. Reaching in, he picked up one of the papers on the desk and brushed away as much glass as he could as quietly as he could.

Taeyong held his breath as his friend dropped the paper and climbed inside; he closely followed behind and they knelt on the desk. In front of them, they saw the walker sat down on the chair; the older man examined it further and found that he was tied to it.

“Look, _look,”_ Taeyong whispered, nudging his friend, causing the younger man to regard the corpse on the chair and notice the belt tying him to it.

“They must have done that before he turned.” Taeyong nodded before taking a knife out of his bag.

“Let’s go and search the place,” he whispered, before the two of them slowly stepped down from the desk and tiptoed around the chair. They approached the door and the younger man opened it as quietly as he could, the two of them stepping out into the corridor.

Ahead, there was a walker banging on one of the doors, wearing a doctor’s uniform covered in deep crimson. It noticed the two men and turned to them; it began to walk over, and Taeyong approached the walker before stabbing it in the forehead. The walker growled, before the redhead pulled the knife out and impaled it repeatedly until it was down on the floor.

Behind him, the younger man bit his lip and said, “We should split up,” staring down at the walker.

Taeyong spun around, “Are you crazy?” he chided.

“We could cover more ground! And we have our weapons, we’ll be fine.”

The redhead stared at him in disbelief, “No, we _can’t_ split up, that’s literally a death wish…!”

The dark-haired man was stubborn, “Look, you go down and search that room, I’ll go back and look at that room, we’re not that far away from each other, and there are no signs of walkers. They’re all outside…!” He had already changed direction and was marching down the corridor, leaving Taeyong stood still, completely stunned. He contemplated following him, and instead of going to the other side, he stepped back into the office they arrived from and started looking, the morning sunlight shining through the broken window.

He searched high and low for any resources, and only came across a small roll of bandages sat just inside an open drawer.

“There’s really not much here,” he muttered to himself, “better keep looking.”

He exited the room, having placed the bandages in his bag. He decided to search the room opposite, and in a box sat on top of a tall filing cabinet, he found a small medication box with a needle and a roll of thread inside.

“They must have been saving this for a rainy day, not wanting anyone else to find it.” He stuffed the box in his bag before he heard a sudden loud screaming and gurgling noise. He darted out of the room, and heard in the distance what he could only imagine was his friend being devoured by walkers.

The sound of flesh being chewed on filled Taeyong’s ears as his friend screamed his name. Taeyong crept towards the room, but couldn’t get too close before the walkers burst through.

Among them, he saw his best friend rise from the ground and join them. The same person who was just screaming for him to help, but he was too late.

Taeyong nearly vomited as he backed away from the horde and ran into the same office to jump through the broken window and out into the morning air.

Taeyong kept running until he thought he was far enough away before he stopped to take a few deep breaths. _“Fuck,”_ he said to himself. _“Fuck!”_

He clasped his hands behind his head and coughed out a sob, but sucked it up again before he began walking again, aimlessly.

Taeyong kicked at the ground as he sauntered along, not caring if a walker grabbed him out of nowhere and ate him alive. He rubbed his face as he came across an open road.

Looking back, he saw a large field near a small forest, and decided to head in that direction.

Towards the middle of the field, he stopped and looked right.

In the distance, he saw a building. _‘Well, shit. Can’t hurt to check it out.’_

He began walking and the closer he got, the more he saw. Running a hand through his hair, he confidently stepped up to the house and looked at it up and down.

“Not bad,” he muttered to himself, “looks a bit worn out, but not bad…”

“Is there anything we can do for you?”

The voice came out of nowhere and nearly made Taeyong jump out of his skin.

 _“Jesus,_ mate, don’t do that!”

Two men appeared from the front of the house, one taller and one shorter; they folded their arms and stared at Taeyong, who was still recovering from being scared by them.

“I said, _is there anything we can do for you?”_ The voice came from the shorter man.

The redhead stared at the two men, “You two live here?”

They glanced at one another then back at Taeyong, “I guess we do, yeah, why you looking for someone?” the taller man asked.

Taeyong shook his head before saying, “Not a bad set-up you have here.”

The two men saw the tired look in Taeyong’s eyes, his pale face and the way he shifted uncomfortably.

That’s when the shorter man asked, “You smoke?”

The redhead looked up and nodded, “Do you?” They both nodded in response before the shorter man pulled out his box and opened it, offering one to Taeyong. “You sure?”

“Yeah, sure,” he replied nonchalantly, a small smile hitting his lips.

Taeyong hesitantly approached the pair and reached for a cigarette from a distance. “Th-Thanks…” He put the cigarette in his mouth and before he could reach for his lighter, the shorter man took out his own and lit it up for him. The taller man followed suit, and the three of them stood awkwardly until the man who offered the cigarette asked for the redhead’s name. Hesitantly, he answered, “T-Taeyong.”

“Taeyong. I’m Taeil, this is Johnny,” the man replied, pointing to himself then the taller man.

Taeyong stared at Taeil first, then Johnny, before inhaling and taking out the cigarette to exhale. “Pleasure’s all mine.”

Johnny then asked, “You from somewhere near here?” Taeyong shook his head.

“You must’ve run pretty far.” The redhead’s stomach growled. “And you sound hungry,” Johnny chuckled.

Taeyong let out a humourless laugh and stared at the floor, taking another hit of his cigarette.

“Well...you might as well come inside,” Taeil finally said, “we haven’t got much but it might help a little.”

Taeyong looked up at him and smiled lightly, accepting the invitation. He followed the two men inside, and blinked a few times.

_‘What a crazy coincidence.’_


	5. Part 1 | Yuta

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/45d05e1f6ec0cca5886cccee6adf23f9/tumblr_pteinklVs21seo5ti_540.png)

_"Before it all started I used to live at home with my Mum; she was single, and we lived in a tiny two bedroom flat. Things were pretty hard going for us - I had two jobs._

_I used to play a lot of sports. Kicking a ball around or playing baseball was how I spent most of my time. Hanging out with my boyfriend and my friends. I used to go to a sports centre every Saturday._

_When me and my Mum first heard the news of an apocalypse starting, we didn’t believe it. We went on as normal for a whole month. That’s when I saw one for the first time._

_I instantly ran home and told my Mum we had to go; she didn’t believe me, but told me to stay at home with her. The next day I went to a nearby shop to pick up anything I thought we would need, my Mum reassuring me that she’d be safe and nothing was happening. When I came back...they were there...she’d become one of them. It was my first time killing one, and it was my own mother. I tried contacting my boyfriend, my best friends, but phone signals were cut off everywhere. I ran to the sports centre but I couldn’t find them...so I just decided to stay there for as long as I could. A whole five months, with the few survivors who stayed with me. The morning I found the house I left the sports centre and hitched a ride with someone I didn’t know had already been bitten. About five miles down the road he turned, so obviously I had to…_

_Long story short, I was injured, but not bitten. I got out and ran through the nearest forest to find help. That’s when I found the house.”_

\---

Yuta’s eyes fluttered open as he lay on the cold, hard floor of the basketball court. His head was resting on his sports bag, stuffed with things he had picked up from his house five months prior. He didn’t know how he managed to survive that long, but thought that it must be because of the six others that were sleeping in the same room.

Worn out, frustrated and blue. Yuta pushed up with the little energy he had in his arms and sat with his knees bent. He rubbed his forehead as the people around him began waking up. The woman beside him yawned as she sat up, whispering a “Good morning” to the younger man.

“Morning,” he groaned.

The woman regarded him with sad eyes, “You feeling okay?”

Yuta didn’t know how he felt. For the past few days, he had felt especially dismal thinking about the current situation. He also couldn’t help but think about his mother. How adamant she was that nothing was wrong. How she reassured that she would be safe, and that it would be _ridiculous to think that anything like that would_ **_ever_ ** _happen._

Yuta wanted to cry. He took deep breaths as he replied, “Y-Yeah...I’m good, just...tired.”

“I can see that,” the blonde woman responded genuinely, placing a hand on his shoulder, “did you get much sleep?”

Truthfully, Yuta had slept more than he had ever done in the past, but fatigue still ate at him. His muscles were tense, the floor of the court having done his back, arms and legs a lot of damage over the last few months.

"Only a bit," he lied, not wanting to make his tiredness feel unjustified.

The woman hummed and told Yuta that he should try and rest more, which earned her a dry response.

Yuta pushed himself backwards across the ground until he was sitting against the wall. One of the men who woke up asked him if he was hungry; Yuta shook his head.

"Come on, you gotta eat something," the man said worriedly.

Running a hand through his brunette hair, he considered it for a moment before deciding it would be better if he ate _something._ Yuta eventually nodded and the man grabbed his bag that was only a quarter full with food. He took out a breakfast bar and threw it to the younger man, who accepted it gratefully and opened it, taking a large bite.

While he ate, he stared off into the distance, zoning out slightly. It took one of the others clicking and waving a hand in front of Yuta's face for him to come out of his trance.

Yuta's thoughts ran away with him whenever he stared into space. One idea floated around his head, _'Maybe I should go.'_

A part of him wanted to, not because he didn't like the people at the sports centre or wasn't grateful for everything they had done for him. It was mostly for a change of scenery. Yuta had survived five months of his life at the sports centre, and decided he wanted to move on.

He finished his cereal bar and threw the wrapper into a plastic bag they were using as a bin before he stood up and stretched. Picking up his sports bag, he put it on his shoulder and picked his baseball bat up.

"Where you heading off to?" another man who looked to be in his fifties, asked, concerned.

Yuta thought about his answer, "Away," he simply said.

"Away? What out there?" The man began to laugh. "You _are_ funny, Yuta."

Yuta clenched his jaw lightly, "I mean it. I'm going away."

The rest of the group stared at him.

"You _can't_ go out there, that's... that's…" the woman tried to speak, but Yuta knew exactly what she meant.

"I know...and it's not because I don't like you guys or because…"

There was a pause. The oldest man of the group stood up and approached him. "Are you sure about this?" Yuta stared at him in the eyes. The two of them had never been amicable towards one another. "Because if you want death to come knocking at your door pretty quickly, then go ahead, lad."

The others gave silent objections that Yuta didn't pay much attention to; he looked at his group one last time, before turning on his heels and heading for the fire exit.

Behind him, the protests got louder as the blonde woman who greeted him first stood up and, taking a tin of canned fruits out of the bag, ran up to Yuta, shouting his name.

The brunette stopped and turned around to see the woman, holding the can out to him. "If you _must_ go…" she stuttered, tears nearly pricking at her eyes, "th-then take this. It's not much but it will help."

Yuta saw the canned fruits in her hand and sighed. A blue can with the word _Peaches_ along the front and a picture of a bowl of said fruit.

A small smile reached his lips as he took the tin, thanking the woman, and the rest of the group for their hospitality. Out of nowhere, the blonde woman hugged him tightly, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Why do you have to go?" she whispered into his ear.

Yuta didn't have much of an answer, besides, "It just feels right that I go. I will miss you."

The blonde woman nearly choked into his shoulder before she pulled away immediately.

They shared an understanding nod before he looked passed her and saw the man he could never see eye to eye with.

The man simply nodded before he turned away and sat down. Yuta sighed and he bid the group one final goodbye, before he spun around and left the basketball court through the fire exit.

A few yards down, he stopped to put the can of peaches in his bag, while also checking the contents of it. He didn't have much, but it managed to see him through the past five months.

Yuta put the bag back on his shoulder and began walking a fair distance away from the sports centre, stopping every so often to hit a walker or two over the head multiple times with his bat.

He began trekking alongside a road, when a car pulled up beside him and the driver beeped his horn, surprising Yuta.

"Where you off to, mate?" the man, who was wearing a sports cap, asked.

The question caught him off guard, "Away."

The man chuckled, "I got that but away to _where?"_

Yuta shrugged. He hadn't thought that part through. The man exhaled and regarded Yuta with a sense of sympathy, before opening his passenger car door. "You can hop in with me, I'm just heading down the road, we can stick together."

Yuta was hesitant, and backed away from the car slightly.

"Listen, you're gonna die out here if you continue walking." To Yuta's left, growling noises could be heard. "Now, are you gonna get in?"

Yuta decided he didn't have much time to think about the consequences of hitching a ride with a stranger, and got in instantly, shutting the door. The man put his foot down and continued driving.

Things were silent, as Yuta looked over to catch a glimpse of the man properly.

He couldn't help but notice how the man's veins were sticking out of his arm, a dark green; a pair  of long sports bands covered his wrists and his face was very pale. Every so often, the man coughed, a deep, chesty cough that was accompanied by a gurgling sound every so often. He tried to ignore it as he continued driving for ten minutes.

Yuta moved about uncomfortably, and he noticed that the car had begun to sway left and right. He looked to his left and saw that the man had begun coughing up blood into his hand.

Yuta tried to gain control of the wheel when he noticed the veins on the man's arm stick out even more, his face growing more pale as involuntary tears fell from his eyes.

The brunette began to lose all control of the car as he shouted, "We have to stop!"

The man's health quickly deteriorated as Yuta tried to reach forward and press down on the brake with no success. The stranger's reflexes caused him to step down on the brake himself, as he vomited all over the dashboard.

Yuta cowered away in the corner of the passenger seat as the driver twitched. With a careful hand, Yuta pulled back the band on his right wrist where it seemed to be most concentrated, and saw a large gaping wound with teeth marks.

_'Shit! Shit! He's bitten!'_

Yuta scrambled to get out of the car when the driver suddenly reanimated and pulled him back. The brunette screamed, the stranger's hands grabbing onto his shoulders. He pushed himself away from the walker and picked up his bat; he started striking it when he accidentally hit the window behind him at full force, smashing it. Some glass shards fell into the car as he continued to hit the walker over the head.

Once he was sure it was dead, he grabbed his bag and climbed out of the car; large glass shards lodged themselves into Yuta's arm and he shrieked in pain, taking them out immediately.

He stumbled away from the car and looked into the distance, where he saw a house.

_'God, please let there be people, please, please…'_

Yuta began sprinting, as he held onto him bleeding arm as best as he could.

As he approached the house, he could see a man with red hair on the porch.

"Help! Someone help! My arm's bleeding, please help!"

The redhead stood up straight as Yuta ran up to him, a confused expression on his face. Once the redhead saw the bleeding arm, he called two names out into the house that Yuta couldn't quite hear. The redhead the returned and shouted, "Come on! Come in!"

Yuta didn't argue as he ran up the stairs and passed the redhead into the house.

The two men - who Yuta assumed were the names the man beside him called out - ran to them to see what the problem was.

The taller man saw the blood and muttered, "Shit…"

"Where's my bag with the medical shit?" the redhead asked.

"Whoa, whoa, he could be bitten!" the shorter dark-haired man argued.

"I'm _not bitten!"_ Yuta blurted out. "This is glass. I smashed a car window with my baseball bat trying to get away from one of them in a car and got a couple stuck in my arm."

"You were trapped with one of them?"

"But I am _not_ bitten! Look at it!"

The three men observed the wound, before the taller man concluded that it wasn't a bite.

"How do _you_ know?" the dark-haired man beside him challenged.

"Well I don't see any other signs of infection and look, it's a simple cut. A walker bite would have actual human teeth marks and you'd see more of the flesh!" he fought back.

Yuta felt helpless, _"Please..._ I mean it, I'm _not_ bitten...please…"

"But the wound may get infected if we _don't_ treat it," the redhead stated, "now, come on." He led Yuta into the living room to sit him down as the two other men observed them.

Yuta watched as the man in front of him pulled out a knife and a roll of bandages.

"I-I have a water bottle…" Yuta muttered, the redhead looking at him and telling him to _take it out, then._

After a couple minutes of cleaning and bandaging, the redhead asked, "What's your name?"

Yuta didn't know if he should answer, but felt like he owed it to him for helping him out, "Yuta…"

"Taeyong," the redhead immediately responded. Glancing up, he continued, "Pleasure to meet you. Guys? This is Yuta."

"I'm Johnny," the taller man entered the room saying. Behind him, the shorter man walked in.

"I'm Taeil," he reluctantly spoke.

Yuta regarded the two men and nodded once as Taeyong finished stitching the wound.

"I guess we've got another one sticking around, huh?" Taeil breathed out.

Johnny and Taeyong looked at their new arrival as Yuta gave an appreciative smile.

"If you'll let me stay, I would be forever thankful."

Three became four.


	6. Part 1 | Kun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/8677957c52e355cf3839c17c5456eb39/tumblr_ptflvcoDVQ1seo5ti_540.png)

_“My girlfriend and I were living in an apartment when it began. We didn’t know, and the next day she went to her day job as normal. About an hour later, I heard growling noises coming from outside._

_Stepping outside, I saw a herd of them coming towards the apartments along my street. I ran back inside to get something so I could protect myself, and when I went back outside, one of them came running up to me so fast that out of panic, I immediately stabbed it._

_When I had a chance to look at the walker...it was her._

_My girlfriend...the love of my life...she had been bitten, and I...I wasn’t even thinking…_

_I ran back inside and grabbed anything that would fit in a backpack and I fled. Ran away. Went into hiding as best as I could away from those monsters. I cried for what must have been a whole fortnight._

_I could’ve helped her... I could’ve saved her. She could’ve been okay. And my carelessness led to that. I swore that I would never kill a walker again._

_The people I found that I stayed with weren’t too happy that I flat out refused to do it, but I had my reasons then. I have my reasons now. The next few months that went by are a blur to me, the only thing I remember being the fact that I didn’t pick up a knife once unless it was to cook. Not wanting to kill obviously put in a spot of bother, and one morning they decided they had had enough of me. So I left. I found another house where there was an older man who called me a coward after I couldn’t help him, so I ran. After a few hours of travelling, I was exhausted. In the distance, I saw this house.”_

\---

Kun poured the remainder of his bottle of whiskey into a glass and drank it in one go, shutting his eyes as the taste hit him. He never was a morning drinker, but for some reason was drawn to finish the rest of the glass bottle that he kept beside his bed.

Stubborn, withdrawn and regretful. He rested the glass on the end table and exhaled the long, deep breath that he had been holding since drinking the golden brown liquid.

Nothing stopped him from thinking about that moment. The second day of the apocalypse. Every time he shut his eyes, the image of his late girlfriend came back to haunt him.

Since then, he hadn’t killed a single walker.

It made surviving tough, and when he met the group that he had been staying with for the past five and a half months for the first time, they were sensitive and considerate about his situation.

Three months down the line, their attitude had begun to change.

 _You need to learn to do it so you can move on and protect yourself, so you can survive,_ the leader of the group once said. _It will do you no good to continue like this in this situation._

Kun didn’t want to move on, saw absolutely no point, and was adamant with his decision. He wouldn’t lift a knife, unless it was to chop up vegetables, and he certainly wouldn’t hold up a gun, no matter what the circumstance was. He was content being someone who worked behind the scenes, giving advice and information. Never would he attack or fight.

The morning he woke up, he saw the sun shine brightly through the window of the bedroom he was sleeping in. The group he was in was relatively small, being only five of them, and while they were good people and he liked them, he could see how they were growing increasingly frustrated with his ways and means of dealing with things.

As Kun stood up to leave the room, the four other members of his group entered the room.

He saw the expression on their faces and knew something was wrong. Knitting his eyebrows, he asked, “Everything okay?”

The leader, a man only slightly older than Kun with lighter brown hair, sighed, “Kun...we’ve been thinking and discussing and...we’ve had to make the tough decision to ask you to leave.”

Kun stared at the four of them in deep and utter shock. _‘Are they_ **_really_ ** _chucking me out onto the street? In the middle of_ **_this?’_ **

As if he was answering the younger man’s thoughts, the leader replied, “It’s really not something we wanted to do, but we felt it would be best if you find a new group. Someone who will...handle your…”

Kun didn’t need to hear any more. He turned to his backpack and, making sure all of its contents were in place, closed it up. Putting it on his shoulder, he walked passed them and out of the room. The leader’s wife began to speak, “Kun…”

“You don’t need to say anything, I get it. I’m not much use as someone to fight against walkers, I know that.”

“Is it something you’re willing to change?” she asked.

Kun looked at her straight in the eyes, “No.” Turning his back, he descended the stairs and left the house.

He began his journey, looking around every so often to make sure there were no walkers approaching. Being someone who wouldn’t fight meant he had to be vigilant, and he took extra precautions to make sure he wouldn’t easily be caught out or spotted.

Kun travelled for about a mile before he came across a bigger house, with a boarded up door and windows. Upon hearing the sounds of a walker mass coming towards him, he crept around the side of the house and hid behind a pile of boxes. Out of the blue, he heard a voice.

“What are you doing here?” It made the young man jump and he stood up to view the man who surprised him.

“I’m hiding from a walker herd,” he whispered.

“There’s some approaching?” the older man said, Kun nodding in response. The man turned and ran back inside the house. Curiously, Kun stepped forward, until the man returned with a dagger in one hand and a hammer in the other. “Take one.”

The dark-haired man stared at the two weapons and immediately remembered what he did _not_ do. Shutting his eyes, he reluctantly took the hammer and gulped.

“Come on, let’s go!” the older man said, leading Kun into the large mob of oncoming walkers.

Unsure of how to get out of this situation, Kun stared at the sheer amount of walkers approaching and nearly felt sick. “There’s too many of them!” he tried to argue. “We’ll never get through them!”

“That’s why we swing for ‘em!” the older man replied. “Come on, this’ll be easy.”

Kun looked down at the hammer in his hand and shut his eyes. He couldn’t do it. He knew his own rule, and he had to stick by it.

“I-I’m sorry…” he began to say, shoving the hammer in the old man’s free hand and backing away, “I can’t do it…”

“What are you, a coward?”

“N-No…” Kun tried to explain his situation but it fell on deaf ears as the old man retaliated.

“You are! You’re a fucking _coward!_ Now get out of here! I don’t need your help anyway…”

The younger man tried persuading the elder to come with him, but he wasn’t listening as he began striking the walkers over the head with the hammer and stabbing them in the chest at an alarming rate.

Kun had no choice but to back away from the scene, bile erupting in his stomach. Turning on his heels, he darted back down the side of the house and away from the mob and the old man.

After climbing over fences and running through back alleys for what felt like hours, he eventually came to a halt at the side of a road.

He decided he didn’t have much choice but to start walking.

Five miles later, with several stops and multiple instances of hiding, Kun came across an abandoned car in the middle of the road. The passenger window was smashed in, and there was a walker in the driver’s seat.

 _‘Must have been some sort of struggle.’_ He shuddered at the thought of ever being caught up in something like that, and moved on when he stopped and saw a house in the distance.

His body was crying out for sleep, his legs ready to give way on him.

_‘I just hope it’s not occupied.’_

Gradually, he made his way to the house. He noticed the front door was slightly ajar, something he considered odd, but not impossible. Kun ambled up the steps and into the house, shutting the door behind him.

Looking around, he noticed no one was downstairs, but he was too scared to call out.

Extremely fatigued, he wandered into the living room and fell down onto a couch, dropping his backpack on the floor. Laying down, he lifted his legs and rested them on the other side of the couch, and immediately fell into a deep sleep.

After less than five minutes, he felt something cold poke his cheek.

Hushed voices reached his ears as his eyes opened, and he instantly noticed the end of a gun pointed straight at him. In a split second he was sat up with his hands in the air.

“Who the _fuck_ are you? And...And how did you get in here?” the man holding the gun asked.

Kun stammered, “The door was s-slightly o-open...I didn’t realise someone lived here.”

“Who left the door open?” the redhead asked openly to the three other men.

They all stared at the tallest man who finally admitted it was him to the sound of groans and _God, you’re an idiot._ Kun went to pick up his backpack when the man who poked him in the cheek said, “Stay right there.”

“I _really_ don’t mean trouble, guys, I’ll leave right now if you want me to.”

There was a pause as the man directly opposite him raised an eyebrow. “What brings you here?”

“Ain’t it obvious, Taeil? He looks tired.”

Kun regarded the man that was addressed as Taeil as he stared back at the brunette who spoke. “So...your name’s Taeil?”

“Yeah, so what? What’s yours?” he replied, pointing the gun firmer, ignoring the silent protest from the taller man beside him.

“K-Kun… My name’s Kun.”

The redhead told Taeil to drop the gun, the dark-haired man huffing; Kun sighed in relief.

“You telling the truth?” Taeil asked, the tired man nodding in response. Taeil softened his gaze and saw how fatigued the seated man looked. He exhaled, “Kun? This is Taeyong, this is Johnny, that’s Yuta,” he introduced, pointing at the redhead, the taller man, and the brunette respectively. To Kun, Taeil seemed annoyed.

“People just keep coming, don’t they?” Johnny asked, Taeil lifting his eyebrows in response.

“Let me guess, you were the first one here?” Kun questioned. Taeil nodded his head, a dry smile on his face. “And then it was you,” he continued, pointing at Johnny, “then you,” indicating Taeyong, “then you,” he finished, pointing at Yuta. The latter blinked in amazement.

“How did you know that?”

Kun shrugged, “Instinct, I guess.”

“Magical,” Taeyong joked nonchalantly. “Anyway, we’ll let you stay, you look worn out.” The redhead stared at Taeil, who was getting progressively more vexed. “Come on, five of us ain’t _that_ bad. And Kun could be a good addition to our group.”

Kun scoffed quietly, _‘Not sure about that.’_

“I’m very grateful, thank you,” he yawned, “but I need to rest. My legs are exhausted.”

“Go ahead, we’ll leave you to it.” Kun nodded gratefully and went back to laying on the couch; sleep took over him within seconds.

Out in the hallway, the four men whispered among themselves.

“This is getting ridiculous. How many more people are gonna find this place?” Taeil asked, irritated.

“I don’t know, but we can’t exactly turn them away if they do. They found this place, so they might as well stay,” Taeyong argued.

“But with every new person that comes in, that’s one more person that we don’t know,” Yuta stated.

“You have a point, Yuta, but at the same time, we didn’t know _you_ an hour ago,” Taeil retorted.

“But we let him _stay._ In this current catastrophe, a few more heads are better than one, maybe even two,” Taeyong reasoned.

“But five? What if it becomes six? Seven? Eight?”

“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Johnny cut in. “Right now, let’s just deal with this new person we’ve got currently sleeping on the couch. Kun.”

Taeyong looked at the man sleeping on the couch. “Yeah. Kun.”


	7. Part 1 | Doyoung

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/40eaa0a70ada235eece83cca5924c8aa/tumblr_ptixd4cW7w1seo5ti_540.png)

_“I used to work an office job. 9 to 5, the usual, boring shit. I went to a nightclub every other night just to forget about work. Get absolutely drunk and turn up to work the following morning completely hungover but not giving a fuck._

_It was early morning on one such occasion that I decided to walk home instead of getting a late night bus. I was stumbling around, hanging off a friend’s shoulder when we saw one. But of course, our state meant we didn’t really get that it was a flesh-eating zombie._

_The next morning brought about a bit of a shock._

_I managed to get into work and we were sent into lockdown. They planned to keep us there for as long as it lasted, which they found was a lot longer than they originally thought. I don’t know how I managed to stay there for six months without going completely off the rails._

_The morning that I found this place I left of my own accord. I couldn’t stay there any longer, I was on the brink of going absolutely insane._

_I emptied my satchel of all its work shit and put in only what I needed. One of my colleagues tried stopping me but there was no way I was changing my mind._

_I travelled from early morning to when the sun was nearly at its highest, killing as many walkers as I needed to._

_It was a horrible journey, and I almost kicked myself for leaving. It must have been a few hours later that I crossed an open field and found the house."_

_\---_

Doyoung stared out of the window of his floor of the office block. He lifted a bottle of vodka to his lips and took a sip, his head resting against the muddy, cracked glass. Exhaling, he looked down at the ground and saw nothing but a horde of walkers moving around lethargically, waiting for their next meal.

Burnt out, stressed and out of sorts. Staring at the mass made him groan, exasperated, as he started hitting his head lightly against the glass over and over again.

“That’s a bad idea, Dongyoung,” spoke a voice from behind him. Doyoung knew that as soon as he heard that monotone, authoritative voice along with his full name that it was his boss speaking. The deep-blue-haired man stopped and kept his head rested against the glass. He felt a hard pat on the shoulder from his boss, making him roll his eyes.

“I wouldn’t drink that either,” the older man said, reaching for the vodka bottle; Doyoung moved his hand away and glared at him. “I’m not the enemy, Dongyoung. We’re all in the same boat. I’m just looking out for you.”

Doyoung didn’t believe a single word as he turned away from his boss and out of his grasp, taking a bigger drink of the sharp tasting liquid. His boss exhaled as he observed the younger man saunter towards his desk and put his bottle down.

Doyoung rested his hands on his desk and stared at it. Looking at the now dirty office chair he once sat in every day, he saw his satchel. He hadn’t bothered to take anything out of it or even look through it since the apocalypse started. Doyoung knew one thing though: he had to get out of there somehow.

He picked up his satchel and placed it on his desk. Opening it, he rooted around and took everything out of it that he didn’t need, leaving only his box of cigarettes, his lighter and his Swiss Army knife. Briefly, he considered taking a cigarette out and lighting it but decided that he should wait a while. On his desk was his handgun. Doyoung still didn’t know where they managed to get weapons, but was glad that he had one in the middle of all of this. Picking it up, he examined it and checked it for any bullets. _‘Crap, only two.’_

He picked up the gun and, closing the vodka bottle, put both in his satchel and moved to one of the many cabinets in the office. Unlocking one, he searched for any boxes of ammo and found only one. Doyoung bit his lip and sighed pensively; he usually wouldn’t, but was feeling a little selfish. He took the ammo box and, shutting the drawer, sauntered away. As he got back to his desk, he regarded his outfit.

Some time into the apocalypse, a few of them snuck out to pick up some more _comfortable_ clothes than the suits and ties they all wore to work every day. Doyoung was gifted a pair of black jeans, a grey shirt and a blue plaid shirt that he wore over the top, open, with a pair of now worn out trainers. _‘It’s better than the shit I used to wear.’_

He threw the box of ammo in his satchel; checking that everything was still there, he closed it and lifted the bag to place on his shoulder. As he walked away, he heard a higher-pitched voice call his name, “Doyoung!” The voice made him pause as it came down to a whisper, “Where do you think you’re going? You can’t just leave!”

Doyoung turned to address the voice and saw it came from one of his colleagues in the same section, “Why not?” he honestly asked the man.

The colleague looked at him, wariness washing over him, “You mad? You go out there, you won’t survive five seconds!”

Doyoung exhaled, “I’m gonna drive myself to insanity staying here. My head’s a fucking mess!” The older man rushed passed him and towards the kitchen where he knew there was some extra food stocked in one of the cupboards.

“You’re gonna regret it! Boss won’t be happy!”

“Well, fuck him. I need to get out of here,” Doyoung muttered under his breath, offering his colleague no real response. He wandered into the kitchen and searched the cupboard he knew would have _something_ in it, and sure enough, there were three tins of food tucked at back. Pulling them out, he saw that there was a tin of baked beans, a tin of peas and a tin of tuna. _‘It’s not much, but it’s something.’_

Putting the cans in his satchel, Doyoung stood up and sighed. He considered his options, and ultimately concluded that he would rather try and move on than to stay in the office block and continue down the current path he was heading down.

Leaving the kitchen, he headed for the exit and walked down the semi-lit corridor; as he approached the stairs, he heard footsteps behind him.

“Doyoung...are you sure you want to go?” the same colleague from earlier asked him.

The blue-haired man glanced at him, “Yes.”

“Then...then take this.”

Doyoung looked at his hands that were holding a large plastic bottle of water, and his eyes widened in surprise, “H-How did you…”

“I’ve been storing it for the past few weeks…”

“And you didn’t tell anyone?”

The colleague didn’t answer, but simply stepped forward and put the bottle of water in Doyoung’s satchel. Backing away, he locked eyes with Doyoung and said, “Take care of yourself out there.”

The older man nodded once as a thank you for the bottle of water, before he descended the staircase all the way down to the ground floor.

Upon reaching the foyer, he looked out and saw walkers surrounding the office block. The lack of lights meant that none of them were drawn to the door, but Doyoung knew he had to be quick. Thankfully, he knew his way around the office block, so he followed the corridors that led towards one of the fire exits at the back. As soon as he found one, he pushed it open quietly and snuck around the bushes, out of sight from the walkers that were hanging around.

Gazing around, he saw a stranded car and thought about taking it, but decided that it was too risky. Doyoung stayed close to the floor as he moved away from the office block and out into the open.

The temperature was low and there was a slight chill in the air as he moved through the nearby neighbourhood. In front of him, three walkers approached. Doyoung chose not to use his gun as he took out his knife and used one of the blades on all three, effectively killing them.

He continued his journey through the town, not using his gun once in order to spare his ammunition. Over the six months he had picked up a lot of skills in how to quickly take a walker down, but the growing number meant he hid more often than not to simply stay alive.

Coming to a public footpath beside a line of houses, he jogged down it and through a group of trees, only stopping when came to an open field.

There were walkers in the distance, but he decided it was safe enough to stop and eat something. Looking up at the sky briefly, he judged that it was nearing midday. Opening his satchel, he reached in and grabbed out the tin of tuna. _‘Something I can eat straight out of the tin. Not ideal, but nothing’s ideal right now.’_

Kneeling down on the grass, he used his red swiss army knife to open the can; grimacing slightly, he ate. Glancing around, he saw how the leaves were swaying in the trees. Summer time. The grass around him wasn’t green, but a muddy brown colour. He took in a deep breath as he finished off the tin and put it along with the knife back in his satchel. Sighing, he stood up once again and continued walking.

After a couple hundred yards, he noticed a building in the distance. Raising an eyebrow, he stood still and blinked a few times, wondering if it was a mirage. But no amount of shaking his head made the building - that he gradually noticed was a house the closer he got - go away.

His steps became faster as he approached the house. Looking up at it, he breathed out a laugh of surprise, a tiny smile reaching his lips. Doyoung ran a hand through his hair and climbed up the steps, but the moment he went to enter the house, the door opened.

Doyoung stood still as he came face to face with a brown-haired man.

“Can I help you?”

The blue-haired man froze as a taller man approached the doorway.

“Who’s this, Yuta?”

“You’re asking me, I just opened the door and he was standing there.”

Doyoung suddenly felt unlike himself, and coughed as he spoke, “I don’t mean to bother you, I-I’ll go…”

“Wait! Who are you?” the taller man asked.

Doyoung turned and said, “Does it matter?” The taller man raised an eyebrow, as two other men approached the door. _‘Oh shit, there’s more of them.’_ He looked through the window and noticed someone sit up on the couch. _‘Oh_ **_shit,_ ** _there’s five of them.’_

“Well, I don’t know. Does it?” the taller man replied.

Doyoung regarded him and the three other men. Soon after, the man who was sitting in the living room came outside as well, “What’s going on?”

The redhead answered, “Someone new has come along.”

“Already?” the shorter man asked. “I didn’t come here too long ago.” One of the men pulled up his sleeves to reveal a tattoo on his right forearm - Doyoung looked at the pattern and was fascinated by it.

“Can we help you?” the man asked, seemingly frustrated.

“I already asked him that, Taeil. He says he doesn’t want to bother us.”

“Are you Yuta?” Doyoung directed the question at the brunette who greeted him. “I’m Doyoung.” The man addressed as Yuta nodded once and looked at the rest of the group. The man with the tattoo exhaled and looked at Doyoung. They stared into one another’s eyes - the blue-haired man could see that he was mad. “I’ll go if you want me to.”

The redhead looked at the dark-haired man, “Remember what I said.”

“I guess he might as well stay. Doyoung, did you say? I’m Taeil,” the dark-haired man said, exhaling.

Doyoung slowly approached the five men, as another member of the group introduced himself, “I’m Kun.”

“I’m Taeyong,” the redhead said.

“Yeah, he’s kinda become the leader here,” Taeil mentioned.

“And I’m Johnny,” the tallest man said. With careful steps, Doyoung climbed the stairs again towards the five of them.

“I guess I’m staying here then?” The five of them regarded Doyoung with varying expressions, ranging from sympathy, to confusion, to annoyance.

Taeyong patted the man on the back, “I guess you are,” he said with a seemingly forced smile. “Come in, Doyoung.”

He followed the five of them in, giving one last look at the world behind him, before entering the house and shutting the door.

The sun set high in the sky as midday rolled around.


	8. Part 1 | Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/acdc4777fe090ed11d961be552ef0ed9/tumblr_ptku69APsU1seo5ti_540.png)

_"I left home a couple of months before it started. I use to just drift to and from places with no real destination, and along the way I became friends with three people, which then led me to a whole group. We used to just drink and smoke on rooftop car parks. Blasting music from our speakers. The night it began, our music drew walkers to us. We were half drunk but we made it out of there, me and my three friends._

_For the next three months we went in and out of houses, in and out of shops, taking anything we needed. I wasn't a fan of it in the beginning, but I came to realise that stealing was the only way we would survive._

_Of course we came across walkers, but most of the time we just hid from them. Until one of my friends became a walker and I had no choice but to do it myself._

_We had a massive fight because of that. They basically told me to go. I still don't know what happened to them. I survived the next three months on only a bit of food every couple of days and the odd change of clothes out of what I could fit in my backpack, which was not much. I came across a forest one night and slept in one of the trees. The next morning, I fought my way through walkers, just to get out the other side and see this house on the horizon."_

\---

Ten's fight with his ex-friends came back to his mind as he walked along a winding road _: I can't fucking believe you, Ten. Why did you do it?_

_I had no choice. He was a walker, he would've killed me if I didn't stop him!_

_He_ **_wasn't_ ** _a walker! Okay, h-he was bitten, but...we could've helped him!_

 _He_ **_was_ ** _a walker! And even if he had only just been bitten, how could we have helped him? We had nothing!_

_Just...fuck off, Ten. Leave us alone. Don't ever talk to us again!_

A lone wolf, jaded and distant. He glanced up at the sky and exhaled, seeing a cloud of breath emanate. Ten saw the stars shine, some brighter than others, and tilting his head down, saw the bright full moon up ahead.

Memories of the fight stuck with him as he continued staring at the orb; in hindsight, he understood his ex-friends' feelings, but also knew that he had no choice in the matter. Ten had watched his friend turn into a walker right in front of him, and when his friend-turned-zombie suddenly lurched forward at him, Ten felt cornered. Within seconds, he had quickly pulled out his knife and stabbed him in the head, letting him fall to the floor.

Ten recalled the memory and shivered.

Behind him, the lampposts that were already flickering got further and further away, making him take his backpack off and search for his small torch. Closing the bag, he put it back on his shoulder and switched on the torch. He knew he had to be careful with where he shined the light, in case walkers or a big group of people found him.

Pointing the torch forward, Ten saw the beginning of a nearby forest; he ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

_'If I can go deep enough into the forest, I can probably find a tree high enough to sleep in. It's a long shot, but it could work.'_

Cautiously, he moved towards the forest and crouched down behind a bush. From far away, he could hear some voices talking, but couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Ten pointed his torch to the ground, and as quietly as he could, tiptoed through the shrubs in front of him. As he moved forward, he stepped on a twig, and the sound made seemed louder than any gunshot at that moment.

Ten tried hard not to blurt out any expletives as one of the members of the small group that was less than fifty metres away spoke, "Did anyone hear that?"

Ten froze for a split second before quickly darting behind the nearest tree and hiding. He pressed his back to the tree and was breathing deeply. Some people from the group stood up with their weapons as one of them said, "Let's go scope out the area."

"It was probably just an animal, they still exist, y'know?"

Ten squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath.

"We shouldn't be so sure…!" one of the men whisper-shouted into the night.

"Look around you! Can _you_ see any walkers? No? Exactly! Now sit down, you're freaking everyone out."

As they continued arguing, Ten saw his opportunity to get away from the scene and go deeper into the forest, shutting his torch off as he did. He carefully made his way through the trees until he could only see a small spark that came from the group's campfire behind him.

He came to a halt and rested his hands on his thighs for a few seconds. Beside him, a tall tree stood; Ten glanced up at it and bit the inside of his cheek. He tested how suitable it was to climb before he concluded that it was a good resting spot, at least for the night. Putting his foot up on the first stump that stuck out of the bark, he grabbed a branch and began climbing, subtle growling noises coming from elsewhere in the forest.

Reaching the highest branch possible, Ten sat against the tree trunk and placed his backpack in front of him. Before he closed his eyes, he prayed that he wouldn't wake up surrounded by walkers. _'Forgive me_ _,_ _I'm not_ **_too_ ** _optimistic. Just help me out with this one.'_

After a few minutes, he fell asleep, clutching his backpack close.

The next morning he woke up to the sound of walkers moving about below him.

 _'Well, fuck...'_ he thought, adjusting his eyes to the sunlight and looking down at growing number. _'Can't say I'm surprised.'_

Ten looked around and noticed that none of the walkers could see him. He bit his bottom lip and put his backpack on his shoulders. He found where the sun was sitting in the sky and assumed that it was early in the afternoon. Gazing around he searched for an opening where he could jump down and make a run for it, but saw that each empty space kept getting filled up by more walkers.

Ten groaned quietly before he realised that all of the walkers were going in the same direction. To his left, he saw the same campfire in the distance that he walked away from, and observed how the horde were heading towards it.

_'Did that campfire really last all night? Or did they just relight it and flee?'_

Ten shook his head of its thoughts before regarding the mass below him. He looked to the right and saw a stop to the walkers nearing. Carefully, he stood up and moved from one branch to another, trying not to let any twig fall. He moved around the tree until he was away from the herd, and took a deep breath in and out, before climbing down the tree; he made haste through the forest, not stopping once to look behind him.

As he ran, he passed a few stray walkers who were standing around. As soon as they noticed him, they began following him out of the forest.

Ten pulled out his knife and turned around; counting the group of walkers, he saw only eight. He waited for them to come closer before striking them, impaling their chests, eyes and shoulders with his knife as blood spurted out.

Ten struggled with the eighth walker as it jolted forward in the same fashion as his friend who turned. Ten screamed his name out loud as the flashback hit him, and he stabbed the walker in the forehead, making it collapse to the ground.

Ten stepped back from the bodies and, staring at his knife, dropped it out of panic and ran away.

He briefly stopped at a stream before absentmindedly crossing it, only really taking the time to think once he was on the other side.

Ahead of him, he saw a house. Deciding that it was much better than going back into the forest and sleeping in a tree, he stumbled towards it.

However, as he got closer, he heard voices inside. He tried to distinguish the voices, but found that they all muddled together. _'Three...maybe four? It could be five. Or even six…'_

Ten crept towards the back of the house and looked through the window of the back door. He counted one, two, three, four, five… _'So there_ **_are_ ** _six…'_

Not wanting to bring attention to his presence, he hid behind the fence on the right hand side of the house as the voices got closer to the back door. Ten tried to make out as much of what was said as possible, but discovered that their voices were too muffled.

He couldn't let them know he was here, but he needed to rest. Sitting against the foundations of the house, he took off his purple backpack and opened it. Reaching into it, he found his box of cigarettes and opened it to take one out. Putting the cigarette to his lips, he found his lighter and pushed it a few times before a flame appeared.

Lighting the end, he put the lighter back in his bag and closed it as he inhaled. He took it out and exhaled, keeping his ear out for any sign of movement from the house.

After a short while, he heard the door open. He kept the cigarette in his mouth as he slowly crawled away from the back of the house.

That's when he heard the voices properly for the first time.

"What time do you reckon it is?" one man spoke.

"No idea, but I'm guessing it's some time after midday?"

Ten looked towards the sky briefly as he took out his cigarette and exhaled again.

"Yeah, seems like it." The voices suddenly stopped. A short pause followed. "Can you guys smell something?"

Anxiously, Ten stared down at the smoke coming from the end of his cigarette. _"Shit,"_ he whispered to himself before pushing it into the ground.

"Did one of you smoke out here earlier?"

"I don't smoke."

"It wasn't me."

 _"Fuck..._ there must be someone close by."

Ten began to get up and move away when suddenly, "Look, Taeyong! Over there!"

"Stop right there!" The dark-haired man stopped in his tracks and stood up straight. He heard footsteps behind him and the same voice say, "What are you doing here?"

Slowly, Ten turned around and came face to face with the six men. He decided honesty was better and told them the truth, "I found this house but heard noises inside. I was just leaving, I swear. I just needed a rest, a cigarette." Ten indicated the half-smoked tube on the grass before looking back up at them, "How did you find this place anyway?"

The six men looked at one another, "We found it, one by one," the blue-haired man said. "I'm the newest person here."

The redhead regarded the tall man before looking back at Ten. He watched as Ten put his backpack on and spoke, "I slept in that forest over there. Woke up to a herd of walkers but managed to get out. Didn't stop running until I came across this place."

One of the dark-haired men regarded Ten with sympathy, "We should let him stay."

Another similarly dark-haired man crossed his arms, "Of course we should," he replied, a little sarcastically.

Ten tutted and rolled his eyes, "I can go if you want mate, just say so, I'll fuck off."

The two of them looked at one another, the blue-haired man trying hard not to chuckle.

"I like his attitude, can he stay?" the tall man asked through a laugh he attempted to suppress.

"In all honesty, I'm the type to go it alone. Not really one to tie myself to a huge group."

"But you could die," the sympathetic looking man said.

"I've survived three months already by myself. I'll be fine."

"Except when you woke up to a horde of walkers in the forest," the redhead argued. Ten gulped. "Yeah, you're definitely staying."

Purple backpack on his shoulder, Ten sighed and folded his arms. He heard one of the other men groan under his breath. The two glared at each other once again before the dark-haired man exchanged looks with his group.

After a big sigh, he finally said, "Contestant number seven, please enter the house," before turning and going back into the house with two others.

The redhead held out his hand over the fence and Ten took it, the two of them shaking hands, "Taeyong."

"Ten. Well, my real name's Chittaphon, but I'd prefer it if you call me Ten."

Taeyong nodded as the blue-haired man mirrored his actions, "I'm Doyoung."

"Doyoung. So you were the new person here before me," the sentence came out as a statement rather than a question. Doyoung nodded as the remaining dark-haired man stepped forward.

"I'm Kun, nice to meet you," with a small, slightly welcoming smile on his face.

"Kun. Cool," Ten replied with a bigger smile. "Well, will I get to know the names of the other three or will I live in ignorance?" he asked as he walked to the back of the house and climbed the steps.

"The short one with the tattoo on his forearm and a constant grumpy look on his face is Taeil. The tall one in the hoodie behind him? That's Johnny. And the brunette in the white shirt is Yuta," Taeyong introduced as he pointed each male out to Ten, the two of them entering the house. The man referred to as Taeil caught the redhead's words and glared at him from the hallway with a raised eyebrow, earning a smile from Taeyong that read as, _you love me really._

"So...how long have you been here?" Ten inquired.

"Well, we all came here one by one as we said. Taeil came here first and he said he arrived at _dawn."_

"I came here next," the man addressed as Johnny cut in as he entered the kitchen, "not too long after Taeil. Next was him," he said, pointing at the redhead. "He's basically now the leader."

"How did you decide that? Rock, paper, scissors?" Ten asked, chuckling, not expecting the nervous cough that followed that told him he was right. "Who was next?"

"Me," Yuta said, entering the kitchen. "Kun followed soon after."

"Yeah and then it was Doyoung," Kun finished, Doyoung giving a tiny salute with two fingers.

Ten asked if they all genuinely arrived within the space of about six hours, all those in the room nodding in unison.

"And now we have you," Doyoung spoke as he stepped forward. Ten smiled faintly and shrugged, saying that they didn't have to take him in.

"Well you're here now," the blue-haired man replied. There was a pause before he continued, "I noticed you didn't finish your cig. Want one with me? I haven't had one since I left."

Ten viewed the man to his right and thought about it, before nodding once, the two of them leaving out the back door to have a cigarette.

Taeyong watched the two of them, "Doyoung seems... different."

"Wasn't expecting him to befriend someone so quickly. He didn't seem like that type of guy," Yuta commented.

"We just don't know him well enough yet. And now we have Ten. Or Chittaphon. But he prefers Ten," Kun stated.

With Taeil in the living room having a few more sips of his vodka, the four men in the kitchen observed the two newest arrivals as they smoked a cigarette each. Taeyong sighed.

He had a gut feeling that Ten wouldn't be the last.


	9. Part 1 | Jaehyun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/7d4a90c0ecef44c3edf53c18e93743ca/tumblr_inline_ptoqiuQjhM1seo5ti_540.png)

_"I used to work as a barista; it was my turn to lock up for the evening when one burst through the back door. I managed to kill it but once I got back out the front there was a whole group of them just standing outside the front door. I thought I was gonna be trapped in there forever._

_When the morning came they were still hanging around outside the café. I had tables and chairs pushed up against the door and I had pulled the zombie away from the back door so I could block it up. I tried contacting my family but everywhere was dead, and I was alone in the coffee shop for a whole month._

_That's when someone pulled up in a car. I ran up to the window to tell them that I was in there, and they actually paid attention…! Several minutes later, I was in this random dude's car with five other people._

_They took me to a bigger group just outside of town, several miles away from where I lived. I was there for maybe three months before I realised they were just as ruthless as the monsters. They managed to keep me there for five months total. I was planning an escape but the first attempt didn't go over so well._

_The second attempt was successful, and I left in the dead of night. I was hoping to leave with two people I grew close with, but I had to leave them behind._

_It's still my biggest regret. Anything could be happening to them…_

_I travelled all night through the forest on very little sleep until I finally stopped under a tree and slept there. It was at some point the next day that I found this house."_

\---

Jaehyun pushed the small amount of food that was on his plate around with his fork as he kept staring at it. Food for dinner was becoming more scarce, food in _general_ was getting more difficult to come by, but for some reason he stared at the slab of nearly cold, possibly expired corned beef on his plate and sighed. His appetite was almost completely gone.

Angry, on edge and feeling cheated, he threw the fork against the paper plate.

"Something bothering you, Jae?" one of his friends, who was sitting to his right, asked.

"Just in a bad mood, lost my appetite."

The friend sat back in his chair and gazed at the younger boy, "Come on, at least try to eat _something._ Probably won't get another meal for a few days."

_'It won't matter anyway.'_

Jaehyun had been planning his escape from the confines of the group for the longest time. His first attempt was a failure, and he clenched his jaw as his memories reminded him of what transpired.

_Try and pull something like that again and you're dead, boy._

He was nearly killed for his attempt, but he couldn't stop and accept it. Jaehyun yearned for freedom, after six months of being subjected to the opposite of what he thought was going to happen when the car picked him up from the café where he worked.

Scratching the side of his head with his elbow resting on the table, he picked up his fork again and tried to eat, only managing three small pieces before he excused himself and returned to his bedroom.

Shutting the door, he sat down in the middle of the room and pulled his backpack out from under his bed. He was given the bag when he first arrived at the base, and inside was a bottle of water, an energy bar wrapper, and a handgun.

 _The three things you need in an apocalypse,_ was what the leader had said with a smug grin and a chuckle.

However, no one had prepared Jaehyun for the fact that the leader was teaching him a lesson. _Water runs out, food will be in short supply and a handgun can only carry so much ammo._

There was only a few drops of water left, he had eaten the energy bar in desperation three months before when there was no food for a week, and he only had two shots left in his gun.

"What a fine lesson you taught me," Jaehyun muttered to himself derisively, opening the bottle of water and finishing its contents.

Later that night, Jaehyun tossed and turned in bed, trying to let sleep take over for just a few hours before he attempted his second escape route.

After the failure two months prior, he had revised the route and found several flaws, which he attributed to his burning desire to get out overpowering his logical thinking. This time, he had everything planned perfectly. There was nothing that could go wrong.

When Jaehyun finally fell asleep, he did so for three hours before waking up. He turned to lie on his right side and saw his two closest friends in the entire group, of which there were dozens.

He sighed, knowing that he couldn't attempt to leave with them. Jaehyun's heart broke at the thought of leaving them behind, guilt weighing down on him instantly.

He pushed himself up as quietly as possible and swung his legs over the side. Reaching down, he pulled up his backpack and put it on both shoulders. Jaehyun had taken the gun out and placed it under his pillow in case of an emergency, so he took it out from underneath and placed it in his back pocket.

Cautiously, he made his way towards the bedroom door, only looking back briefly to whisper goodbye to his two friends. Jaehyun felt regretful and cruel, but knew the punishment would be just as bad if not worse if the leader caught someone _else_ with him, let alone two people.

He looked around the dark corridors as he shut the door slightly leaving it ajar, watching out for anyone who could potentially seize him out of nowhere. Taking a deep breath in and out, he bent over a little and began tiptoeing away from the bedroom, heading right, towards the stairs where he knew an exit would be. Jaehyun was also aware of a guard that secures that exit, making sure no one leaves through there, so he had to come up with a distraction. Ahead, Jaehyun saw a closed window that he approached and carefully opened, struggling with the lock and the strength needed to push up such an old, worn-out frame.

Once he opened it, he checked behind him to make sure no one heard him; a sudden draft travelled into the house and brought a chill to Jaehyun’s cheeks. Out of his backpack, he pulled out a light that was once strapped to the front of a bicycle. He had discovered it three weeks beforehand, and after coming across some spare batteries in the storage area, replaced the old ones and found that it gave off a bright yellow light.

 _Perfect,_ he had thought.

Turning on the light, he covered it quickly to stop anyone from noticing it, before inhaling deeply again and holding it. Throwing the light as far as he could, he exhaled, and saw it land on a patch of grass just outside the fence. Jaehyun reckoned that if the guard wasn’t asleep and was paying attention, he would spot it.

Thankfully, a few seconds later, he did.

Jaehyun backed away from the window as he saw the guard slowly walk towards the light, not bothering to close it as he imagined it would create a _bigger_ sound, and turned to his right when he reached the stairs.

Descending them rapidly, backpack back on his shoulders, he eventually approached the door. With a gentle push, Jaehyun opened the fire exit, and as soon as it was open enough, he squeezed through the crack and sprinted.

He made it through bushes before he heard a voice shouting, “Oi! Where do you think you’re going?!” behind him. Jaehyun didn’t stop until he was a few metres into a forest and behind a tree.

The air was seemingly knocked out of his lungs as he slid down the trunk onto the ground. Out of the blue, he saw the end of a torchlight in front of him. Biting his bottom lip, he didn’t dare move, hearing the guard’s voice say, “Where are you?! I _know_ you’re in there somewhere! Come on, come out!”

Jaehyun’s chest moved up and down, his heart beating immensely fast. He wanted to hold his breath again in case the guard heard him, but for a while his lungs didn’t respond properly.

The torchlight moved back and forth a few times before it was switched off. “Fine. You can fucking _go._ Good riddance to you! But you’ll be back!”

After a few seconds, he heard the faint sound of movement. The steps seemed to get further and further away; Jaehyun waited a while before turning and peering around the tree trunk. In the distance, with only a flickering lamp post shining a light on the ground where the back of the house was, he saw the guard go around the side of it and to the front. He didn’t have much time.

Once he knew he was in the clear, Jaehyun began running again, not stopping once. He raced through; he wanted to believe that he was far enough into the forest for him not to be found and brought back, but he wasn’t confident. However, his tired eyes and legs were telling him something different.

Jaehyun looked back and saw nothing but a mass of tall trees. He could no longer see the lamp post and finally decided that it was near enough safe to at least sit down and sleep for some time.

By the time he woke up again, it was already afternoon.

Jaehyun’s eyes opened. He blinked once before realising he had somehow gone from sitting against the tree, to lying down in front of it.

 _‘God…’_ he thought to himself, _‘I must have slept for so long.’_

Rubbing his eyes and face, he stood up and noticed his backpack was still on. Stumbling a little, he leaned against the tree for a short time before moving away from it. In front of him, he saw an end to forest. Yawning, he sauntered towards the end; looking up, he noticed how blue the sky was and saw that the sun was already quite high.

 _‘Damn...I slept for a_ **_really_ ** _long time.’_

Jaehyun trekked across the field that greeted him at the end of the forest. After a few minutes, he glanced up and saw a house.

 _‘Probably trouble.’_ He huffed before he suddenly stopped at a stream. “Whoa...hold on there, Jae.” Carefully, he crossed over the stream. Out of nowhere he wondered, _‘Where are the walkers? Not that I’m complaining, but...where are they?’_

As if on cue, to his left, four walkers approached him from being near-dead on the ground.

Except, these weren’t the typical walkers - after a scream emanated from one, they started _running._

“Fuck, _shit!”_ Jaehyun took a couple of steps before turning and darting away.

He heard the growling noises from behind him and in front of him, saw two men emerge from the front of the house.

Jaehyun had never come across a runner, and it seemed that the two men he saw had never experienced it before either.

“Holy _shit!_ Grab my gun!” the dark-haired man shouted as Jaehyun got closer to the house.

“Come on!” the taller man shouted to Jaehyun.

As soon as he reached the steps, Jaehyun pulled his gun out of his back pocket and shot two of the walkers; the dark-haired man took a gun from another person in the house and, standing beside the lighter-haired man, shot the last two walkers. Or _runners._

“Shit, never seen _that_ before,” he breathed out.

“Were they...running?” another voice spoke. Turning his head to the right, Jaehyun and the dark-haired man looked at one another in the eyes.

Instantly, the lighter-haired man held out his hand, “Jaehyun.”

The dark-haired man was slightly taken aback by the immediate introduction, but took his hand and shook it, “Taeil.”

Jaehyun looked up at the other men who emerged from inside the house.

“We’ve got someone else staying, guys,” the redhead said.

Jaehyun bit the inside of his lip. Breathing heavily, he thanked the group of men.

_‘Maybe not as much trouble as I first imagined.’_


	10. Part 1 | Winwin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/1f6b88c26c9fbfa53491890cba757253/tumblr_ptsd85w3QW1seo5ti_540.png)

_“I often look back on what happened and think, it just doesn’t matter anymore. What’s past is past, and I can’t go back and change it no matter how much I might want to. My parents didn’t believe that a fucking massacre was basically taking place outside our own house. Outside everyone’s houses…_

_My sister and I tried to persuade them to leave with us, but they were so fucking stubborn. Everything we tried didn’t work. We decided we had no choice but to leave._

_Everything’s been such a blur for the last three and a half months of my life. I just remember that my sister and I ran away from home at the start of the apocalypse and survived together for the first few months, before I lost her. And I don’t want to talk about it._

_All you need to know is that my sister was and still is my world. I’d give everything to have her back._

_The months when we were together were okay; we were able to survive together. Things were tough but we got through._

_A week or so before I found the house I set up camp with a few others who found me one day and took me under their wing. You don’t need to know who they were, they turned out to be shitty people. The night before I found this place we were camping out in the forest, but in the_ _afternoon when I woke up a whole lot of walkers appeared. They left me alone, the fuckers, so I obviously had to get out of there and find somewhere new; a little while later I found this house.”_

\---

Sicheng rolled up his third cigarette of the day and put it in his mouth; lighting it, he took in a breath and let out a sigh, the smoke filling the air around him. Beside him, one of the men in his group spoke, “Could you watch where you smoke that? There’s children ‘ere.”

Cold, broken and stone-faced, Sicheng shot the older man a glare before standing up and walking some distance away from the group. He came to a halt beside a tree and leaned against it, inhaling and exhaling again. Staring off into the distance, his mind became trapped by its own thoughts, sending him back in time to a day he didn’t want to remember.

_“Come on, sis, we need to go!” Sicheng shouted into the house as walkers invaded through the back door, more than there had ever been in the last three months._

_“Give me a sec!” the older woman’s voice came before she grabbed her shoulder bag and put it over her. Inside, a bar of chocolate, a knife and a small pack of bandages her Mum had always kept in a cupboard in the kitchen. Looking back into the lounge one last time, she ran out into the hallway where Sicheng was, “Let’s go! Let’s go!”_

_The two of them sprinted out of the house and towards the car in the driveway that had thankfully not been torn apart by walkers. Sicheng’s older sister climbed into the driver’s seat while he took the passenger side, both not bothering to fasten their seatbelts._

_“Step on it! Let’s get out of here!” Sicheng yelled as his sister, panic-stricken, fumbled with the keys to the engine._

_“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Come on!” she muttered loudly, her younger brother next to her, keeping a lookout. Once his sister finally turned the key, a loud roaring sound came from the engine, and she pressed her foot on the accelerator._

_Sicheng pressed his back against the chair as his older sister pulled out of the driveway and onto the road. Tears were streaming down her face and she desperately wiped them away as she attempted to drive down the zombie-infested road._

_Walkers were nearing the vehicle as she tried to go as fast as possible, Sicheng directing her on where to go._

_After a while, the two of them ended up in the car park of a small shop._

_“I’ll stay here, go in there and gut that place!” his older sister instructed._

_“What? No! You’re coming with me!”_

_“Cheng...if I go in there no one’s keeping an eye on the car and this is our ticket out of here!” Sicheng sighed in objection, staring at his sister with pleading eyes to come with him so he knew she would be safe. “Sicheng...I’ll be okay,” she began, grabbing his hand. “Give me your gun! With that and my knife I can protect myself! Just...don’t take forever…”_

_The man opposite reluctantly handed over the gun that was in his back pocket before promising he’d be less than five minutes and leaving the car. He made his way around the front of the vehicle and dashed into the shop, collecting as much as what he thought the both of them would need._

_Outside, his sister ducked down beneath the dashboard of the car in the hopes that no walker would find her. She breathed deeply and bit the inside of her cheek._

_Suddenly, to her right, a walker approached along the side of the car and appeared at her window. Her head snapped in the direction of the zombie and she shrieked as it pushed through the window and grabbed her arm._

_In an instant, she tried pushing herself away from the walker and lifted her foot; kicking it in the head multiple times, it collapsed to the floor as she backed away._

_She pushed herself against the window of the passenger’s seat as another walker came up to it and smashed the glass, wrapping it’s arm around her neck. Her screams were deafening as she scrambled to grab the knife she had briefly let go of while dealing with the first walker. It proved to be futile as the walker dragged her through the broken window and onto the ground._

_At that moment, Sicheng ran out of the shop. As soon as he noticed his sister being torn apart by the walker, he screamed her name at the top of his lungs._

_This caught the attention of every oncoming walker and they all turned to face him._

_Sicheng had no choice. He had to go._

_Turning on his heels, he darted away from the walkers, away from the car, and away from his older sister. It was only when he stopped in an alleyway next to a building to take a breather that he felt all life drain from him._

_A violent sob escaped his lips as he sank down to the floor. His sister meant everything to him._

_And now she was gone._

“Winwin! We’re gonna check out the area, see if we can find any food. You need to watch over our kid.”

Sicheng was taken out of his nightmare that took the form of the event from months ago by the sound of the leader’s voice. When he heard the name “Winwin”, he had almost forgotten that he even introduced himself to his group by that name. Sicheng simply didn’t want people to know his real name, so he came up with a nickname. One day he thought of it and it stuck. Winwin became his name to the outside world, and he was okay with that.

Sicheng didn’t say anything, but turned around to return to the campfire where the rest of his group were, including the child he was told to watch over. He took a seat next to him and rested his arms on his legs. Picking up a stick in front of him, he poked the campfire, the other adults explaining that they would be back soon.

Once things were quiet, the young boy turned to Sicheng. “You okay?” he asked, innocently.

Sicheng breathed out and looked at the boy beside him before forcing out a tiny smile. “Yeah, I’m okay.” The boy then patted his back lightly in a comforting manner.

“It will be okay, Winwin,” he said quietly, before he yawned, stretched and moved to lie down with his head next to Sicheng’s legs.

The older male gazed down at him and saw him fall asleep. A tear fell down his cheek at how kind the boy was. Sicheng felt like he didn’t deserve it for how hostile he came across sometimes.

He dropped the stick in a silent fit of rage and stood, wrapping his hands around the back of his neck. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, letting the slight breeze wash over him. Sicheng dropped his arms and hung his head low, staring at his feet before lifting his head a little to look at the fire in front of him.

_‘There’s no point in being pissed. Just go to sleep, Sicheng.’_

Ruffling his hair, he sat down against the log he was just sitting on and let his heavy eyes close as he began to fall asleep.

By the time he woke up, it was only an hour later, and the rest of the group had returned to see the two males asleep.

Sicheng woke up but the boy remained in his slumber; the older male stood up and yawned before returning to his seat beside the boy, making sure he didn’t wake him. “What d’ya find?” asked Sicheng in a whisper.

“Not a whole lot, but we found _something,”_ the leader replied. Sicheng raised his eyebrows. Something was definitely better than _nothing._

After everyone had sat down, there was a faint sound of snapping in the distance.

“Did anyone hear that?” the leader asked. Sicheng looked around for the source of the sound before glancing back at the leader. “Let’s go scope out the area.”

"It was probably just an animal, they still exist, y'know?" his wife replied.

"We shouldn't be so sure…!”

"Look around you! Can _you_ see any walkers? No? Exactly! Now sit down, you're freaking everyone out."

Sicheng left them to argue as the others around him tried to mediate the situation. He gazed around and looked through the trees for any sign of movement but couldn’t find anything.

“I don’t think it was anything. I can’t find anything,” Sicheng stated. The leader stared at him and narrowed his eyes, and kept his gaze fixed on the younger male as he sat down.

“Everyone go to sleep. We leave in the morning,” the leader deadpanned.

Sicheng coughed nervously and moved to sleep on the ground, noticing how the leader didn’t take his eyes off for one second. He glanced up at him and raised an eyebrow, the older male opposite suddenly standing up and putting out the fire with the rest of his bottle of water, which shocked Sicheng. They had no more firewood, and if something was to happen in the morning, there would be no way out for them.

Sicheng hoped that they would be able to get out in time.

However when he awoke again hours later and saw nothing but a larger fire a few metres away from where the original campfire was, with none of his group around, he clenched his jaw and hit the ground with a clenched fist.

Standing up, he picked up his bag and put it on. Turning his head, he noticed a swarm of walkers approaching through the forest. _‘Holy fuck…’_

There seemed to be no end, and Sicheng had no choice but to dart through the forest in the opposite direction and hope for a quick exit, which there wasn’t one for a mile or so.

He stopped next to a tree to breathe every so often, and to look behind him to check where the swarm were heading. He knew that even if he was no longer being followed, one walker, or two, or two dozen, or two _hundred,_ could come out of anywhere at any time.

Sicheng began running again, and after what felt like hours, he came to the end of the forest.

In front of him, he saw a few more walkers, but he decided to not try fighting them. He was too tired and didn’t have a good enough weapon to tackle all of them at once.

Heading to the right, he jogged for as long as he could, before he stopped at the sight of a house on the horizon.

 _‘You better fucking_ **_not_ ** _be there…’_

Sicheng’s sides were sore, his breath seemingly running away from him, his cheeks puffy and red, but he couldn’t stop. There was a supposedly empty house waiting for him, and he wanted to claim it.

He came to a stream and didn’t hesitate in crossing it. He continued his journey to the house and breathed a sigh of relief. _‘Looks totally abandoned.’_

From the outside, Sicheng could see the dishevelled nature and look of the house. _‘No one would_ **_seriously_ ** _be here already.’_ A smirk appeared on his face. _‘That just means I can take it instead.’_

He came to the front of the house and climbed the steps with some difficulty, tiredness overwhelming him. He opened the door confidently and stepped inside.

Taking a deep breath in, he smiled.

He walked into the living room and sat down on one of the couches. On the coffee table in front of him, he saw a zippo lighter.

Sicheng tilted his head to the side and went to pick it up. On it were some engraved letters.

_Happy Birthday, Taeil_

-  _Love, Dad_

He inspected it closely, when out of nowhere, footsteps came down the stairs.

 _“Put that the fuck down!”_ Sicheng turned to the source of the voice and immediately put the lighter back on the coffee table. Standing up, the dark-haired man who spoke asked, “Who the fuck are you? Did you just waltz in here thinking no one lived here?”

Sicheng considered his response, then stared at the male right in the eyes, “Yeah.”

“Well fuck you, ‘cause people _do_ live here, now you can get the fuck _out,”_ the dark-haired man lifted his gun and slowly approached him, the redhead behind him trying to get him to stop.

“No can do, I found this place, mate, so I’m staying.”

The male with the gun stared at him in disbelief before turning to the redhead, “The nerve of this fucker…!”

“Look can we all just handle this calmly?” another man who was stood beside a taller blue-haired male asked. The dark-haired man turned back to face Sicheng and lifted his gun again.

“Fuck that, Kun. No way.” Tears pricked at the male’s eyes; Sicheng’s eyes widened as he looked into them, and gulped.

His voice had lost some of its hostility, “Look, I didn’t mean to, I truly didn’t know anyone was here…”

“You didn’t bother to check did you?” the redhead chimed in. The dark-haired man was still holding his gun up. Sicheng slowly put two and two together.

“You’re Taeil, right?” The man with the gun gradually straightened his back, gun still pointed towards Sicheng. The young male considered giving his real name for a second, before sticking to his original plan. “I’m Winwin. At least, that’s what everyone calls me. I saw what was written on that lighter…”

A tear fell down Taeil’s cheek, the other men watching apprehensively, “Don’t you _fucking dare!”_

Sicheng held his hands up, “Just...listen.” He swallowed hard and shut his eyes. He didn’t want to tell them. He didn’t know these people. He didn’t _trust_ these people. And he’s never wanted to talk about what happened. He just wanted him to know that he was in the same position, “I know what that’s like too.”

Sicheng felt like a new person, vulnerability showering over him quicker than he could think, in a way that he would have never imagined.

Taeil looked at him in the eyes, sincerity laced deep within them. He watched as Sicheng picked up his lighter; he was prepared to lift his weapon again, but saw the male approach him and, in a touch of unexpected kindness from a man he thought he was going to kill earlier, felt his free hand be brought up and the lighter be placed just inside.

Sicheng closed his fingers around the object, his heart going at a thousand beats per minute. Everyone else slowly stepped forward towards the two men, and heard Taeil let out a cry. Sicheng could tell by the expression on their faces and by the way he acted towards him just minutes before that this was a new emotion being shown from Taeil.

The dark-haired male dropped his gun, and couldn’t lift his head, but spoke quietly, “Winwin?”

Sicheng took a step back. “Yes?”

“You can stay.”


	11. Part 1 | Jungwoo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/a395f1e7ccc49a6e513b105c637c3469/706bd32720161993-c3/s640x960/84894604d34a0d19eeb8defed7f334f01416616b.png)

_"My family and I survived the first few months of the apocalypse in our own home. We were fine. We were okay. Then one night I saw my mother turn. I screamed when I saw her, "Mum! It's me!" and ran and locked myself in the bathroom. She started banging on the door and I couldn't stop crying my eyes out. My Dad and sister ran up the stairs. They called my name out. All I heard were my Dad screams. I was so confused and terrified. I then heard my Mum shriek before my sister opened the bathroom door._

_She killed our mother._

_I stood up and ran out and screamed, "What did you do?!" My sister said she had no choice._

_That was when my Dad turned._

_"Dad? Dad!" I shouted at him, but he couldn't hear me. My sister dragged me past him and down the stairs before he could get to us, but I was still confused like, that was my father, you know?_

_We grabbed a bag and put in as much as we could. I didn't want to leave them behind, but my sister kept saying "they're not our parents anymore," and I was like, 'what do you mean they're not our parents anymore?'_

_We tried to go to a relative's house but they were gone. We found shelter a few miles away behind an old clinic. That's all I can remember._

_I've never been able to accept the fact that once you're one of them you're no longer who you were. That just doesn't make sense to me. I lost my parents, they're still my parents to me. The morning I found the house, I lost my sister. She told me to hit a walker but I felt...guilty for some fucked up reason. I held her in my arms as she died!_

_This place was the closest place and thank God there were people inside… That's how I ended up on the doorstep of this house."_

\--

Jungwoo's knees were close to his chest and his back was pressed firmly against the brick wall behind him as he stared at the floor, his mind wandering to and fro.

Heartbroken, terrified and confused, he began imagining a world where the apocalypse had never happened. It made him shed a tear, as he glanced up and witnessed his sister in front of him take a drink from a bottle of cider.

"You shouldn't drink so early in the morning…" he blurted out.

His sister regarded him with blank eyes before she choked out a forced laugh under her breath, "What else have I got left at this point, Woo?"

Jungwoo had seen his sister slowly go down a spiral over the last couple of months, one that wasn't aided by the early morning drinking and the fact that she had taken up smoking. He never touched a cigarette, but always saw his sister roll up one after the other after the other and place it between her lips to smoke.

And this morning was no different.

Jungwoo watched silently as his sister started and finished making her cigarette before lighting it and inhaling. Out of nowhere, she held it out to him.

"What? N-No thanks...you _know_ I don't smoke…"

His sister shrugged and brought the tube to her lips again, "Thought it might take the edge off."

Jungwoo wasn't feeling nervous, or tense really. He was simply feeling down. Upset. Puzzled. A cigarette would not help him.

He suddenly pushed himself off the ground and stretched, a yawn pushing through as the sun gradually rose higher in the sky. Upon looking up, he saw a few clouds occupy the blue. He lifted his arm and shut his eyes, moving his fingers through the wind. His sister looked up at him and felt a new sadness wash over her. She turned her head and exhaled away from where her younger brother was standing, not wanting to interrupt the small moment of peace he had just found that she knew wouldn't last too long.

With a barely noticeable shaky voice, Jungwoo asked, "Will it ever get better?"

His older sister stared at the ground in front of her. She tried to suppress a tear of her own as she replied, "I don't know."

Jungwoo bit his lip. It was exactly the answer he was expecting, which made him feel worse as he brought his arm down and sat where he stood.

The older woman finished her cigarette and threw it into a nearby bush before saying, "We shouldn't stay here too much longer." The blonde boy looked at her. "I mean... it's a good place and all. Quite well hidden. But we don't know how long for and I'm sensing a shift in walker activity close by. There might be many approaching."

Fright briefly came over Jungwoo's face before it was replaced by an emotionless expression so that his sister didn't ask or worry too much.

"Where do you reckon we should go?" he asked and followed his sister's movement as she stood up.

"If we can find an abandoned house somewhere, we can set up there. Use that as our base."

Jungwoo couldn't help but smile at the plan. He and his sister had always been together, side by side, and he was so thankful to get to stay by her side during the catastrophe.

They shared a smile before his sister said, "Shall we go then?" The blonde nodded before they gathered their things for the journey.

Every so often they came across a walker or two that had to be killed, which Jungwoo's sister was more than happy to take care of. She knew how weird and horrible her brother felt towards killing walkers, so she always took the burden off his shoulders.

Jungwoo often felt bad for not feeling capable of impaling a walker between the eyes, but mentally he didn't feel ready. He didn't feel comfortable. Something told him he would never be okay with it, and that it would one day cause his demise. That was something he never told his sister, though.

After a few hours of endless walking with very few breaks, they reached the outskirts of a forest next to an open road, and stopped to look up at the trees above them.

"Whoa…" Jungwoo whispered to himself.

"Now...we either go down the open road where we'll be able to see a threat, or we go through the big scary forest where we won't see much."

"I vote the open road," Jungwoo said in an instant, earning a light chuckle from his sister.

They began their trek along the road when a few miles down they heard growling noises from within the forest. They halted and quietly looked around for the source of noise, when suddenly a walker ran out and grabbed the older woman.

She shrieked as she tried to push the zombie off her, _"Jungwoo!"_

Jungwoo stepped back and felt his eyes well up with tears. He couldn't do _nothing._ Behind him, he found a long, thick branch which he managed to pick up with both hands, and he walked over to where his sister was struggling with the walker.

"Hit him in the legs! Knock him down! I'll deal with the rest just… _help me get him away from me!"_

Jungwoo panicked as he held the branch in his hands and stared at the life that had turned into a zombie. He knew deep down he didn't have time to think about it, and his instincts were telling him to save his sister, so he shut his eyes and swung.

An instant rush of guilt came over Jungwoo for a reason he couldn't explain, and he looked up to notice he had only caught the walker's right leg.

"Not bad...just... _ah!"_ she suddenly let out an ear-piercing scream as the walker bit her arm. _"Fuck!"_

"Oh my God!" Jungwoo screamed, before he swung at the walker again, this time hitting it the torso. He dropped the branch and grabbed his sister by the other arm, "Come on, let's go!" He felt he had no other choice but to run.

Jungwoo pulled his sister through a part of the forest once they were far enough away from the walker, the older woman screaming in pain as the open wound spilt blood everywhere she ran.

"We can make it!" Jungwoo shouted as he stopped for a brief second to pull his sister closer and wrap an arm around her. "We'll get help!"

As they made their way out of the other side of the forest, Jungwoo saw a house in the distance. "Look! There's a house! Sis, there's a house!" Out of the blue, his sister fell to the floor, too weak to stand, the venom from the bite eating its way into her system more by the second.

Jungwoo knelt by her side, tears streaming down his face. He pulled her body up so her head was in his lap as he spluttered out words, "C-Come on, sis! There's a house! Come on, we can m-make it!"

Below him, his sister began coughing, the wound gaping, red, green, yellow, purple, brown all rolled into one.

"Stay with me! Please, stay with me! Help!" he tried to scream, but it was trembling, and not loud enough for anyone to hear.

In front of him, he saw his sister twitch uncontrollably, having no idea what to do, or how to save her. The tears wouldn't stop falling as his sister tried to speak.

"D-Don't for...get," there were more coughs, "about m-me…"

"No! _No!_ Please, come on, there's a house! Let's go, sis, we can…" Jungwoo stood up and tried to pull his sister backwards from under her arms, but it caused more spluttering, now accompanied by blood. _"Please,_ don't leave me! We can... let's go!"

He watched as his sister's health got worse, the effects of the bite fast-acting, as within a couple of minutes, she was gone.

"Please…" Jungwoo sniffed, shaking his sister as he witnessed her die, "no, _please…_ There's a house, sis…" He couldn't stop crying as he hung his head low. "Don't...leave me…"

That's when it suddenly hit him. His sister was going to come back as one of them in a matter of minutes.

Instantly, he stood up and ran towards the direction of the house.

Once he reached it, he climbed up the stairs and banged on the door repeatedly. In a few seconds, a tall, light-brown-haired man answered. As soon as he saw the expression on Jungwoo's face, he called out, "Guys? Come here please."

As a few other men approached, Jungwoo cried, "Please... _help me…_ M-My sister, she's…"

The man who opened the door stepped outside and in the near distance, saw a figure slowly get up off the ground. Jungwoo counted four men exiting the house, followed by four more as they stared at the figure approaching.

"That's your--?" the brown-haired man began to speak, before Jungwoo screamed and pushed past the other males and went into the house.

"Jaehyun, who is he?" a shorter man wearing a light purple shirt asked.

"No idea, he just knocked on the door and said that was his sister," the man referred to as Jaehyun explained, indicating the figure.

Some of the others looked at Jungwoo's tear-stained face. "I-I can't do it...she's...she's my…"

A dark-haired man walked up to him and placed his hands on Jungwoo's shoulders. "Do you...want us to do this for you?"

"Kun, I don't know if we should..." a tall, blue-haired man began to speak, but was cut off by the man addressed as Kun.

"If it means we can help out this clearly very distressed boy, then I think we should."

The redhead sighed, "Anyone have a gun with ammo?"

The blue-haired man ran to his bag and pulled out his handgun, offering it to the redhead, "Two left. Should be enough."

"Cheers, Doyoung."

He took the gun and left the house, Jungwoo's sister coming nearer. Before the redhead could take the shot, Jungwoo ran to the front door shouting, "Wait!"

The redhead huffed under his breath as Jungwoo appeared at his side. "S-Sis? It's me...I'll never forget you, just like you said…"

The other men watched as the blonde boy continued and completed his speech by running back to who he knew as Kun and resting his head on his shoulder. The dark-haired man felt a need to comfort him, and he brought his hand up and rubbed his back slowly.

After a few seconds, a single gunshot was heard. Jungwoo lost control and sobbed hard into Kun's shoulder, before hearing a voice ask him, "How old are you, mate?"

Jungwoo lifted his head and wiped his eyes before turning to the source of the voice. "Twenty."

They all murmured and exchanged looks. "Younger than all of us," another dark-haired man who Jungwoo saw had a tattoo on his arm said.

"My name...is Jungwoo. And thank you so much," his words trailed off into tears.

From behind him, Kun gave the redhead a knowing nod.

He became the tenth person in the house.


	12. Part 1 | Lucas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/460f0627eeebc5f2b7e7e0da94a29230/ad9c7173aed38a8a-62/s640x960/2926b8100d808430c7d9473026bacda311c9caf9.png)

_"I was out with a couple of friends a few nights after it began. During those first few days we heard loads of talk about it but we never actually saw one, so we thought it was fake._

_We were just drinking a few beers when we saw a dozen of them walk down the street. We didn't think too much about it at first, but when we heard the noises they made and they started coming towards us, we turned and ran._

_I got on my motorbike and they climbed onto the back, but there was too much weight. I said that we still had to try, that I wasn't gonna leave anyone behind. One of my friends jumped off and told us to go on without him._

_I'll never forget his face as he backed into the mass of zombies. They ate him up like they hadn't eaten in days._

_I went to the laundromat where my Mum was finishing up her shift, and I pushed my bike into the place. I explained what was going on and she didn't believe me until she saw them herself. She tried contacting Dad but there was no answer. She assumed he was already one of them._

_The next few months we spent in that laundromat, only going out on the odd occasion. My Mum had never drank so much. She missed Dad. I couldn't get over it. My best friend was spiralling down. One night while he was on lookout, he let one of the walkers get to him. I lost two best friends in the span of a few months._

_The night before I found the house my Mum was looking terrible. She said she didn't want to deal with the sound of that engine, and that I had to leave her there. Out of anger, she forced me out of the laundromat with my bike._

_I don't even know how I ended up here. I don't even know why I'm here. My motorbike broke down and I just started walking until I found this place."_

\--

Lucas opened the last bottle of beer from the box and drank nearly half of it all at once. He leaned against one of washing machines; across from him, his mother was sat down against another machine, glancing down at her bottle of vodka but not really looking at it. The dark circles under her eyes stood out and all the colour was lost from her face.

Drained, annoyed somewhat yet almost completely lost. Lucas regarded his mother with eyes laced with frustration, not directed at her, but her actions.

Watching her sit on the floor, her shoulder pressed against the washing machine, riled him up in a way he didn't think was possible. It irked him to think that for the past six months she hadn't been doing much besides sitting and drinking; he had never seen her so miserable in all his life.

Lucas didn't want to feel frustrated. He knew the current situation. He knew that she believed his father had become one of them. The young boy had often held out hope that he would turn up one day in his car from some shielded safe place that he had found several miles away and rescue them.

Once he lost his best friend, all of that hope instantly vanished.

He realised how hard it was to survive in an event like this. Nothing was ever going to stop the constant hordes of walkers from banging on the windows of the laundromat every hour or so. Lucas was thankful that they had never managed to get in.

Drinking the rest of the beer, he placed the bottle down on the seat in front of him, catching his mother's attention; "You shouldn't drink so much of that, not good for you," she nonchalantly spoke.

Lucas said nothing in response but raised his eyebrows at the irony of the statement. After a few seconds he looked towards the window and said, "It's late, Mum."

"I'll be on lookout," she replied, standing up, groaning.

As she relaxed her tense muscles, Lucas responded, "But I thought it was _my_ turn tonight."

His mother walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder, her back slightly damaged from constantly sitting against washing machines, "I'll take over, Xuxi."

Lucas was taken aback by the use of the name. He hadn't heard his Mum say it since he was a child, and hearing it again at the age of nineteen from his mother in the current state she was in didn't give him the same warm feelings as before.

He loved his mother without a doubt, but couldn't bear to see what the apocalypse and the loss of his father was doing to her health. He tried every which way to help but she was as stubborn as ever, rejecting assistance whenever it was offered to her. He observed her as she carried her bottle of vodka and sauntered over to the chair in front of the window.

_'Will things ever change?'_

An hour later, he was laying in the makeshift bed at the back of the laundromat on his left side, looking at his mother as she took brief sips of alcohol every few minutes. Somehow, his mother could tell that he was staring, "Go to sleep, Xuxi." Her voice sounded genuine, and filled with worry.

Before Lucas moved to lie on his right side and try and go to sleep, he laid on his back at first and stared at the ceiling, "Why have you been calling me Xuxi?"

The older woman felt a tear roll down her cheek, the first time in a long time that she let her true emotions show themselves, "Because you're my son, Xuxi. And it truly hit me today that you are all that I have left in the world."

Lucas turned his head to the left and noticed that his mother was looking right back at him. "I love you, Mum," he said, finding it hard to hold back tears at the sight of her puffy cheeks.

"I love you too, sweetheart. Now try and go to sleep."

Lucas nodded and turned to lay on his right side. A single tear fell down as he closed his eyes and let sleep take over.

It was just past midday when he woke up, and the first thing he heard was the sound of something being moved. Turning over, he saw that his mother was moving his motorbike.

"M-Mum?" Getting up immediately, he speedily moved over to where his mother was fiddling with the bike, "What are you _doing?"_

The older woman looked at him straight in the face, "Getting you out of here."

Lucas couldn't believe his ears, and was so confused by her words, "What do you mean?"

He heard his mother sigh. "I've been thinking overnight. You deserve way better than to stay here locked up with me. You need a chance to go out there and find a better place for _yourself."_

Lucas shook his head a few times, "What about what you said last night?" His mother exhaled again, shutting her eyes. _"Mum,_ you're all that I have left in the world! I can't just leave you here... _no!_ That's not happening!"

His mother turned and placed her hands on his shoulders, "Xuxi...you need to go. You need to get out of here."

"Mum, I'm not leaving you here! Come with me!"

She shook her head vehemently, "No, no, _no!_ You are leaving, right now, this minute!"

Lucas couldn't wrap his head around how the woman who was crying last night about how he was the only person she had left was the same woman as the one forcing him to leave without her.

Before he could argue, however, his helmet was forced into his hands and he was being pushed to get onto the bike. In protest, he put the helmet on the seat and sat down on the bench behind him instead.

His mother breathed out, _"Xuxi, please…"_

"Why, Mum? Why are you forcing me out? This makes no sense!"

"Because you'll waste away here!" There was a pause. "You'll waste away, like your mother." She folded her arms and turned away, huffing in anger. Lucas stood up and tried to spin her around to face him, but she wouldn't budge. "If you don't leave now... I don't want to know what will happen to you if you stay…"

"But I can't just...leave you here!" Lucas spilled out through tears he was trying desperately hard to fight. But there wasn't much of a fight to be had.

It was within a few minutes that a defeated, guilty Lucas left his mother at the laundromat with a final goodbye and a promise that he will _learn to live his life again._

Wiping away tears that were constantly streaming down his face, he ploughed through walkers at high speed as he rode further and further away from the town.

It was a non-stop journey, and he rode his motorbike for miles down an open road before it came to a halt at about halfway.

"Shit…" he muttered to himself. Ahead of him, he noticed a car. From a distance he couldn't tell if anyone was in it, but thought there was no harm in checking it out.

He got off the motorbike and walked towards the car, when he noticed a walker with his head smashed against the steering wheel, with one of the windows smashed. Grimacing, he backed away and ran back to his vehicle before anyone could notice it was sitting there.

He stood beside it for a while before he glanced up and saw a house in front of him.

 _'Maybe I could chill there until I get some help.'_ He let out a humourless chuckle at the thought and kicked at ground. _'Yeah, like_ **_that's_ ** _ever going to happen.'_

He began moving his bike towards the house when he saw two men emerge. They noticed him and the motorbike straight away, "Anything we can do for you?" the man on the left shouted.

"Ah, my motorbike broke down! Yeah, I thought I might be able to...hang out here if it was empty but clearly it ain't so…" Lucas was about to move away when the men stopped him.

"Hold on! You say your motorbike broke down?"

The young boy nodded. The two strangers regarded each other and they seemed to have a conversation among themselves before Lucas cut in, "Could I come inside for a bit? Maybe...leave my motorbike outside? I won't be a bother, promise."

The men looked at him with a raised eyebrow each before telling him to wait and going back inside. Only a minute or so passed before the same two men emerged with a _third_ male, a red-haired man with a cigarette in one hand.

"Your motorbike's broken, y'say?" Lucas nodded. "Leave it just 'ere," he said with the tube between his lips, pointing to just beside the steps; he took it out to exhale, "we'll let you come inside for a bit."

With a sceptical look on his face, he said, "Do you think it will be okay out here? I mean...this bike's the only thing I got left. It's my pride and joy, you know?"

The redhead bit his lip, "We get that, but look at how old this place is. You bring it in here it's gonna fall through the floor."

The dark-haired man beside him spoke, "It'll be fine out here. Just come in before we change our mind." The redhead seemed to regard the man to his right with a surprised expression. Lucas barely knew these people, but he didn't know why he got the feeling that they barely knew each other as well.

Leaving his motorbike where he was told to leave it, he stepped inside the house. Once he did, he instantly realised why he may have had that feeling.

_'Jesus, how many people are here?'_

"Ten, if you're wondering," the dark-haired man beside him said, answering his thoughts like they were spoken out loud.

"Did someone call?" A man stepped out into the hallway from the living room.

"No, no, no, I just imagined this young man would be wondering how many people were here. And there's ten. Well, eleven if you count him too," the man explained, indicating Lucas.

The man who had just entered the hallway held out his hand, "I'm Ten, nice to meet you," he said with a smile.

Lucas took the hand and asked, "Ten's your _real_ name? That's so cool!"

Ten chuckled, "No, but thanks! Chittaphon's my real name, but I'd rather be called Ten."

The young boy nodded once, taking the information in should he ever need to call him by his name again.

"What's your name?" the redhead asked.

"Mine?" The young boy felt slightly cornered. "Lucas."

"Lucas. I'm Taeyong," he said, holding out his hand, "this is Kun."

"Nice to meet you," Kun said as Lucas shook Taeyong's hand before moving to shake Kun's.

The four walked into the living room and explained the situation to the six other men present, who were all introduced to Lucas.

"I don't plan to stay long, I'm not-- Wait a minute!" Lucas was cut off by the sight of someone pushing his motorbike away from the house and towards the nearby forest.

He ran out of the room and out of the front door and down the steps, yelling out to the two men who were now pushing faster and faster until they were in the forest and never to be seen again.

 _"Shit!"_ Lucas almost screamed. He turned back to view the men who had followed him out of the house, and began walking up to them shouting, "Who's bright idea was it for me to leave my motorbike out there? _It'll be fine,_ you said," he pointed at Kun.

Kun cowered away, looking apologetic, "I'm _so sorry."_

Lucas went to approach him, when he was stopped. He looked at all ten males before stating, "Well, as payback, you can let me stay."

 _"What?"_ one of the men who was introduced as Taeil asked.

"Yeah that's right, I'm staying here now. Permanently." Lucas pushed past them, leaving them all a mixture of confused and annoyed.

Some arrivals weren't as smooth sailing.


	13. Part 1 | Mark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/6434176bbbb676ee96fa5461578014d1/639de649db013c7b-65/s640x960/f348208db262fc2b8b2000f5a4bce6295f0a71b6.png)

_"I'd already left home by the time it started. It'd only been two weeks. All I remember was being on my own and seeing one in the distance coming towards me. I made a run for it through some back alleys and climbed a couple fences before I found myself at this gym. The changing rooms of the pool became my hiding place for a couple of days before I realised I kinda needed food to survive. So I left._

_It was fucking anarchy. God, they were everywhere. I managed to avoid a lot of them and get to a tiny corner store. I don't even know how I did it, I had no weapons at the time. I went in and picked up anything I thought I would need and legged it out of there and went back to my hiding spot. It hadn't been found by walkers or anyone else._

_I was there for about a month. That's when I ran out of food; I decided to leave so I could find somewhere else, but when I left the changing rooms, I saw them all outside._

_I was frozen for a few seconds as I stared at the walkers outside the huge open windows. The sounds they made filled my brain, and I could hear people outside, screaming their guts out. I couldn’t move. That was when a group of people managed to get in and save me._

_They took me under their wing and I stayed with them for a few months. But they were assholes. They got drunk and made fun of me. Said shit about my parents and family when they had no right to._

_The day I found the house, I stole a gun, two knives, some food and a couple of bottles of beer and I left. As I was walking I heard them run around screaming out my name, obviously trying to look for me, so I ran. They were so loud._

_After some time I came across an open field. It must’ve been pretty late in the afternoon when I stumbled across the place.”_

\--

Mark laid down on the firm mattress with his hands clasped behind his head and stared at the ceiling. There was a sharp intake of breath let he slowly let go of, counting the seconds until he had to take in another breath.

Alone, detached and constantly troubled, he removed his hands from the back of his head and pushed himself up. Turning around, he grabbed his half empty beer bottle off the floor and took a drink, the taste of it making him grumble. The more he drank, the more stale it became, but he couldn’t stop. It had been worked into his psyche that drinking was a way to get through it, and as much as the actual drinking of beer brought him little to no satisfaction, it was that initial hit, the first sip that kept him coming back for more.

In one go, he drank the rest of the bottle, flinching as the final drop hit his throat. He allowed the bottle to fall out of his hand and onto the floor, not so that it smashed, but so that it simply rolled along the floor to the other side of the room. He observed it as it stopped at the opposite wall and rose an eyebrow at it.

Mark stretched and swung his legs over, pressing his feet firmly against the floor. Tired, he rubbed the back of his neck before standing up. Mark looked around the room.

 _‘I can’t fucking stay here,’_ he thought. He had been contemplating leaving for a while, but had never worked up the courage to leave. Mark decided that it was time to get out.

Picking up his backpack from the end of the bed, he looked inside it and saw his extra pair of jeans and his spare top. Pulling the clothes out, he smelled them and grimaced, throwing them to the floor. _‘Don’t need them.’_ He had a third set of clothes at one point, but had lost them along the way. Mark couldn’t remember how.

He ran a hand through his black hair and put the empty bag on his shoulder. Leaving the room, he was immediately stopped by an arm being thrown around his shoulder and a loud voice shouting his name into his ear, “Mark! How are you, lad? Whoops, sorry!” The older man snickered as his loud tone mocked the heightened senses that Mark had developed due to his experience in the gym’s swimming pool.

_‘The screams, the growling noises. So...fucking loud.’_

And hearing the old man he’d been staying with for the past few months shout in his ear every morning like it was a joke didn’t make it any easier.

Mark had made up his mind, he had had enough of it, “Could you _fuck off?”_ His voice wasn’t loud. It sounded drained and had no energy to it.

“Oh come on, Mark. We always have these little jokes!” The young boy pushed him away and nearly scowled at him.

“Well _fuck_ your jokes.”

Mark turned and ran down the stairs, leaving the older man slightly bewildered, before he scoffed and let out a chuckle, pulling out a cigarette to smoke.

Downstairs, Mark made sure he was out of sight before he reached into the pocket of one of the group members jackets and pulled out the handgun. He quickly checked how much ammo was in it, and found six. Biting his lip, he placed the gun inside his backpack before moving away. Going into the kitchen, he opened the drawers quietly and found a small sharp knife in one. Taking it, he shut the drawer and opened another one. _‘Bingo,’_ he pulled out the slightly bigger knife and placed both in his backpack. Quickly taking a glance around to make sure no one was looking, he began opening cupboards to find any scrap of food. Out of four tins he took two, and out of three packets he took one. He moved over to the box of beer on the floor and almost felt uncomfortable staring at it. He placed the backpack down in front of him and went to take a few bottles when he heard a low voice behind him.

“What you up to?”

It made Mark jump as he spun around and saw one of the other men in the group standing there with his arms folded. Holding up a bottle he said, “Just went to grab another beer, if that’s alright.”

The man raised an eyebrow before he stepped away and said, “Alright…” Mark breathed a sigh of relief. He looked up to the sky and wondered how he managed to get away with it, but didn’t spend too much time dwelling. Quickly, he stuffed three bottles into his bag and closed it up. Putting it on his shoulder, he chose to exit as quickly as possible.

Passing by the living room, he took one look at the three men standing in a trio, before he sped away and left out the front door.

Mark only managed to get a couple hundred yards down the road before he heard his name. He recognised the voice to belong to the man who “joked” with him not long before left, and he yelled it at the top of his lungs. He turned his head once to see the group leave the house before he sprinted, not looking back again.

Once Mark stopped, he reckoned he had been running for a solid half an hour, and despite being far away from the house, he could still hear their voices in his head screaming his name. It messed with Mark’s mind, and he rubbed his temples to try and get rid of them.

Mark continued walking until he came to a stop beside a house. He considered taking a break and staying in the house for a while, but he knew that they would try and find him.

Ahead of him, he saw a group of walkers approach him; taking his backpack off, he took out the bigger knife before shutting it and replacing it.

He drew nearer to the walkers and stabbed one in the head before pulling it out and slicing another’s face in a horizontal line. Walkers fell at his feet one by one as he made his way through them. Once he had impaled the final one, he shook off the blade and started running again.

Mark found his way down an alley and sat down against a brick wall. Putting his backpack between his legs, he opened it and took out the packet he picked up to inspect it. A simple bag of plain crisps. _‘Not much,’_ he thought, _‘but something.’_

He opened it carefully and took each crisp out one by one, staying vigilant. He lightly chuckled to himself at what he was doing. _‘Never thought I’d have to be so cautious when eating food.’_

Mark only ate some of the snacks before he rolled the bag up and put it back in his bag. Standing up, he continued his walk down the alleyway. He came to a wire fence and saw more walkers on the other side. Before the noises could work their way into his mind again, he began climbing the fence and dropped down to the other side, darting away before they could notice him. He found himself near an open field.

_‘Doesn’t seem like a bad idea. Just stay low. Don’t let it get to you, Mark.’_

He began his trek along the field, the sun setting lower in the sky as blue mixed with purple. Mark knew he needed to find shelter soon before it got dark.

He came to the beginning of a forest but decided against going through it as he continued his trek to the left of the mass of trees. Passing by the forest, he glanced up and saw a house up ahead.

_‘Whoa...that’s a big house.’_

Mark continued walking until he reached a stream; he crossed the water and took slow steps towards the old-looking building. Mark bit his lip at the state of it. He wondered if anyone already lived there.

Walking round to the back of the house, he jumped as he came face to face with a tall brown-haired man.

“Oh-- Jesus!” he exclaimed, the taller man looking similarly caught off guard.

The man nearly dropped his cigarette as he asked, “Who are you?”

Mark suddenly felt out of sorts. “Who are _you?”_

“I asked you first, mate,” he replied, putting the tube between his lips and inhaling.

The young male had his hand over his chest, still shocked from what had just happened. Out of nowhere, another man emerged from the house, slightly shorter, with deep brown hair, “Who’s this?”

“Don’t know, Winwin. Taeyong will probably say it’s ‘another person who gets to stay.’” The man who was referred to as Winwin rolled his eyes as he took out a cigarette of his own. The two men stared at Mark.

“Yes?” Winwin asked, bitterly.

Mark’s hand fell down by his side and he huffed, “Listen, I’m trying to get away from a group of people I fucking hate who are probably trying to track me down.”

“Join the club,” _another_ man, with hair a shade deeper than the taller man, but a shade lighter than Winwin’s, said as he exited the house. “What’s your name?”

“Why do you wanna know? I just wanted some place to stay until I’m sure they’ve forgotten about me.”

The third stranger to join them tutted, resting his hands against the top of the fence, “That could be a while.” The taller man jabbed him in the side and the two of them looked at one another. They muttered something to each other through gritted teeth as Mark found Winwin’s eyes; the male raised his eyebrows as he took his cigarette out and exhaled.

Mark picked up on the taller man’s words, “Taeil’s gonna _hate_ a _twelfth_ guy staying here!”

“Sorry, _twelve?!”_ Mark blurted out.

“Is everything alright out--?” the dark-haired man who just emerged halted when he saw Mark standing there. “Good God, don’t tell me…”

“I found this house fair and square. I didn’t know someone was here, let alone _twelve!”_

“Yeah, you and some of the others that have happened upon this place,” the man muttered under his breath, him too bringing out a cigarette.

 _“Taeil…”_ the lighter-haired man mumbled.

“So, _you’re_ Taeil?” Mark asked. The four men stopped in their tracks and stared at Mark. The man stood to the far right explained the situation to the fourth stranger, and through the back and forth between him and the other three, found out his name was Jaehyun.

After their small discussion, “Yes, I’m Taeil,” he said sourly, taking a deep breath in. “Listen, we understand your situation and we sympathise with what you’re dealing with, but we _can’t_ accommodate a twelfth person.”  
“Says who?” Mark retaliates.

“Taeil?” another voice called. The young boy rolled his eyes and sighed, exasperated as he folded his arms, a redhead now appearing between Taeil and the taller man. “Is everything good? Johnny, what’s going on?” Mark looked at the taller man. He now knew the names of four of these men.

Johnny folded his arms, “I think we’ve got another one,” he said to the redhead in a low voice. Taeil groaned and faced the man beside him.

“Taeyong, are we forgetting that _I_ was the first person here? I get that you won the role of leader, but I think my opinion should carry some weight too!”

Winwin folded his arms as he listened to the conversation, “You know, he _does_ have a point.”

“Winwin…” the redhead who Mark now knew was called Taeyong began, but the young boy, with his black hair sticking to his forehead, interjected.

“Look if it’s too much trouble, I can leave. I can go right now.”

Taeyong told him to wait for a second, leaving a confused and slightly vexed Mark to unfold his arms as he witnessed the proverbial hot mess take place in front of him. The five of them continued arguing before Taeil snapped.

“You know what, Taeyong? Fuck this. If _you_ want to keep letting random people who ‘happen to find this place’ into this house, then on your head be it. But don’t expect me to want to meet _any_ of them. I’ll make that decision for myself.” He turned to Mark, and spoke with such a seething voice that it cut through the young boy. “Welcome, Mark. Make yourself at home.” With that, Taeil dropped his cigarette and stamped on it a few times, before pushing past the remainder of the men who had come to see what was going on. They heard loud footsteps going up the stairs, anger seeping through the floorboards.

“He’ll come round,” Johnny said eventually to a slightly scared Mark. “So what’s your name? How old are you?”

Mark supposed he had no choice. “Mark. Nineteen.”

Taeyong nodded, “Well, Mark, you heard what the...slightly frustrated man said. Make yourself at home.”

Mark didn’t know what he had gotten himself into, but decided there wasn’t much time to ask as he climbed the steps and followed the four men in.


	14. Part 1 | Xiao Jun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/65a0c442167870c0c43e185b6fd52745/5f20944f1b7b9a8c-d2/s640x960/33266e85772eb69b3bc4d61fe2eef5ef1736c2e2.png)

_ "Things seemed so easy. Photography used to be my hobby. I lived at home with my parents and we were safe from them for three months.  _

_ When I came face to face with one for the first time, I didn't even think I would be able to kill it. My parents basically kept me locked in my bedroom for those first three months. When a stray walker managed to get through my door, I picked up the nearest thing I could find without looking and I smashed it over the head multiple times, hoping that would do it. _

_ When I looked down I realised it was my camera that I had used. I just dropped it on the floor. Excuse my language, but it fucking sucked. _

_ Running out of the room I called for my parents, screaming at the top of my lungs but still no answer. That's when they came up the stairs. The camera didn't fucking matter when I saw the two of them, but I couldn't kill them. I managed to avoid them and run down the stairs and out the back door. _

_ I kept running. I found a small family who took me in and let me stay, but over those next few months, things got worse. I realised that I didn't want to stay with them, but they were telling me I had to stay, and that I had no choice. _

_ The day I found the house, we left in the early afternoon to go and find more food to eat. We went through the forest and split up, me going with the mother. _

_ I managed to convince her that there was something a bit further away that she could grab but instead of following her lead, I backed away just enough, then made a run for it. Luckily, I was already close by. _

_ I don't want to think about what could've happened if I stayed with them. It's a blessing I found this house.” _

_ \-- _

Xiao Jun sat on the sofa and brought his knees to his chest, his toes wiggling nervously against the edge of cushion. He stared down at the floor as he clicked his fingers multiple times, eventually being told to stop by one of the adults who took him in a few months prior.

Scared, nervous and lonely, he rested his right cheek on his knees so he could look away from the man sitting at the dining table. Xiao Jun didn’t know how he was able to deal with them for so long, but they kept saying that he had no choice, so it almost became second nature to just accept everything they did or said.

He was sick of it.

_ You've got no family left. Your parents became walkers. Where else are you gonna go? _

Words spoken to Xiao Jun that dug deep into his heart. A stray tear fell down his cheek as he remembered what they had said to him.

_ You've got us now. No point in trying to find them. _

He wanted to scream his guts out about how he already knew all of this but he knew it wouldn't be a good idea. He tried it once before.

_ Well, at least be grateful that we took you in! You would be dead by now, or worse...a walker. _

More tears began to fall that he tried desperately to get rid of before anyone caught him crying. He had let a few tears shed over the months and any time he did he would get reminded of how their son, who was several years younger than him, never cried and that he should try and be  _ a bit more like our son! _

All Xiao Jun wanted to do was curl up into a ball.

"Right, you," said the voice of the father, causing the younger boy to let go of his legs and put his feet down on the floor, "we're all going out to fetch more food, you know the drill, but we're travelling a little further out to a bigger forest..."

While the young brown-haired boy  _ should've  _ really been listening to the man's words, he was instead thinking of how he was going to get away. Once he heard the words  _ bigger forest  _ he thought he had struck gold.

_ 'Perfect chance.'  _ His thoughts ran away with him for a few seconds.

"...and we won't be-- are you even  _ listening  _ to me, boy?" he suddenly shouted. Xiao Jun blinked a few times before nodding. The man crouched down so that he was level with the younger boy before raising an eyebrow. "Do you know our plans then?"

Xiao Jun didn't, but he played up that he knew.

"Good, gather your stuff, we leave in five."

_ 'This is your  _ **_one_ ** _ chance. Don't screw it up.' _

They began their journey, and Xiao Jun simply followed on behind the two parents and their son, looking around him more often than he looked ahead. At one point he stopped very briefly to look into the distance, but was stopped by the mother's voice telling him to hurry up and to not dawdle.

They walked for miles. Xiao Jun concluded that this was the part of the father's big plan speech that he missed, because he definitely wasn't prepared for this long of a trek. He only had a half empty bottle of water, a knife and a tin of canned pineapple that he managed to sneak into his bag.

Late afternoon began to settle in as they slowly approached the forest.

"We'll split up. Let's make this quick. I'll go with our son," the father instructed.

"And I'll go with him," the mother deadpanned, grabbing Xiao Jun's arm and pulling him closer.

"Good, we'll meet back here when the sun has reached the peak of that building over there."

With the position of the sun, it was going to be an hour.

_ 'Okay, Xiao Jun. You've got this.' _

A few hundred yards into the forest, the mother stopped and told Xiao Jun to hide behind a tree. Without asking why he complied, as he witnessed the older woman slice a walker in two.

He winced at the sight as it fell to the ground before the woman turned around and whispered at him to keep following her.

Xiao Jun was on her tail as they crept forward through the forest. He tried to think of something to distract her or stall her so he could get away, but nothing was coming to his mind, until he saw something in the distance to his left.

A stretch of bushes and shrubs that she could no doubt get lost in.

It sounded evil, but he needed a way out.

"Hey, um," he said in a hushed voice, tapping the woman on the shoulder, "look over there."

"What? What is it?" she said, slightly annoyed.

"Over there, there's some bushes, I think I saw something!"

"I don't think so, now come on."

"Are you going to turn down the one chance you have to get food?" Xiao Jun suddenly retaliated. He didn't know where it came from, but it sparked something in the older woman as she turned to face him with narrow eyes. She took a step towards him.

"Okay then, boy, show me where to go."

Xiao Jun directed her to the long stretch of bushes, then told her to stay in front. She was a little sceptical, but decided it was probably best if she stuck to leading the way.

As soon as she entered the bushes, he started walking slower. And slower. And slower, until, he began backtracking away from the woman.

Her eyes were glued to what was in front of her, so she didn't even notice, until she heard footsteps running away, that Xiao Jun had disappeared from behind her.

It took a few seconds to register, but once she looked up to the right and saw him running, she screamed his name, her blood suddenly boiling.

On the other side of the forest, the father and the son heard her call out his name, and glanced over to where Xiao Jun was sprinting.

"Xiao Jun!" he called out angrily. The young boy felt tears prick at his eyes but didn't stop to wipe them and didn't care if they clouded his vision a little bit.

_ 'Just keep running. Keep running. Keep going.' _

"Xiao Jun! Stop there right now!"

_ 'Don't listen to them, keep running.' _

"You better stop, Xiao Jun!"

_ 'You gotta lose them, Xiao Jun.' _

He took a right through some tall plants and bushes and when he looked back, he could no longer see them. Xiao Jun kept going, determined to make his way out of the forest.

He could still hear their voices, but they were becoming more distant as he found an exit to the forest. He frantically wiped his eyes as he kept sprinting, only stopping briefly when he came to a stream and crossed over it.

Ahead of him, there was a house. He didn't care at that point if someone was already living there. He needed to hide.

Approaching the steps, he ran up them and through the door, slamming it behind him and pressing his back to it. Out of nowhere, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight men emerged from the living room. Three more men came into the hallway from the kitchen, and a twelfth man appeared on the stairs.

Xiao Jun couldn't stop crying but he was terrified.

One of the men saw this immediately and said, "Are you okay? Is it walkers?"

He shook his head violently and said, "No! No, it's…" The distant voice of the man sounded incredibly loud against the quiet atmosphere of the house, but it was still muffled, so they couldn't quite make out what the voice was saying.

"Was he...saying your name?" another man piped up.

"It seems like he's looking for you," a third male said.

"Y-You don't understand! I don't want to stay with them!" Xiao Jun cried out.

"Okay, okay, why? Have they hurt you?" the first man who spoke said.

Xiao Jun suddenly felt lifeless as he stood with his head hung low, "Not...physically...but they're just terrible people and I don't want to stay with them!" Tears continued to stream down his face.

Another male stepped forward with black hair and said, "He's in the exact same position  _ I  _ was in. I say we help him."

Some of the others were reluctant at first, but agreed eventually as the voices got closer. The man at the top of the stairs suddenly spoke, "Come up here, there's somewhere you can hide."

The other men seemed to regard him with immense surprise but they encouraged Xiao Jun to join him. Once he was upstairs, the man guided him to a bedroom where he said, "Hide under the bed."

A short while later, someone banged on the door before they opened it immediately after, "Have you seen a young boy? Quite tall, kinda scruffy looking, ran in this general direction?"

Xiao Jun heard the voice from upstairs and squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't know why he trusted these men, and was expecting them to immediately throw him back into their arms until he heard a different man's voice, and all of his worry disappeared.

"Why would we have seen someone? Besides, if he had knocked on this door and discovered twelve people behind it, do you think he would've stayed? I'd say he'd feel too intimidated."

Xiao Jun  _ was  _ a little intimidated, but he felt like he didn't have much choice but to plead with the strangers to help him out. He was so thankful his plan worked.

He could hear movement downstairs before the sound of the door shutting filled his ears with both hope and dread.

Gradually, he saw several pairs of feet enter the room. The pair of feet that had been standing in front of the bed turned around to face it.

"You can come out now."

Xiao Jun took a few deep breaths before he pushed himself out from underneath the bed and stood up 

"Th-Thank you…" His voice was shaky. "S-So much, I...I don't know where I would've been…"

"No need to thank us," a red-haired man said.

"Tell us your name, you can stick around here with us," the first man who spoke to him said.

"Xi-Xiao Jun. Xiao Jun is my name. I'm nineteen."

Eyes widened in front of him before the redhead stepped forward and held his hand out, "Taeyong. Nice to meet you."

A trembling Xiao Jun shook his hand with a tiny smile.

"How many is that now? Thirteen?" a blonde male stood at the back asked quietly.

"Why do I feel like this is never going to end?" the man who helped him earlier asked as he sat down on the bed. Xiao Jun could see the tattoo on his forearm. 

He was confused, but curious.

_ 'How did they all end up here?' _


	15. Part 1 | Hendery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/75648122f18dc580d03e8992ca824822/44b6a97cfd4409f2-76/s640x960/0d329ae188d3607673b0b70ee8cf7a011f06e756.png)

_“I won’t lie, I can’t remember much. I was with my parents and my three sisters for a while before we joined a big group. The longer we stayed there, the worst things got. My parents and my oldest sister decided to stay with them. Me and my two other sisters had no choice but to leave them behind. We travelled for a really long time before we set up camp by this forest next to an open road._

_It was difficult for a while. Every few days I would get sent out to get water from this stream. Every time I went there, I would pass by this house. It always kind of freaked me out because it looks really creepy and old. Like one of those haunted houses you would avoid as much as possible. I never stopped feeling curious about it though._

_One afternoon, I did my usual errand and was about to travel back when I saw someone running towards the house and a name being screamed out loud. I was across from where the house was at the time, so I just hid behind a tree and watched as he went into the house. I saw some people go up to the house, and I noticed there were more people inside. I didn’t know what to do at that point so I just went back to the camp. Having a penny board helped._

_When I got back they asked me what took so long. I just claimed it was walkers, which wasn’t entirely untrue. A short while later, one of them was so exhausted that she went to sleep. The other was awake, and while she wasn't looking, I decided to go and check the place out._

_When I got there, I went up to one of the windows and saw a bunch of people inside. I didn’t get too far away before I was caught. That’s when I found out: the boy I saw running was Xiao Jun. You know the rest.”_

\--

Hendery pushed his pink penny board back and forth with his hand along the grass as he sat beside a tree. A few metres away, two of his sisters were sat around a fire. They turned back to look at him every so often, but he never once met their eyes.

Vacant, moody and guarded by a wall that he put up after he had to leave his three other relatives. Hendery didn't speak much to the two sisters he left with after it happened.

They always tried to get him to talk to them. _We're not the enemies,_ the older of the two would say. **_We_ ** _didn't stay with a group who promised to do so much more than they actually would,_ the younger would say.

It was sarcasm that fell from Hendery's lips when he said, _But maybe it was good for them to stay._ Not just sarcasm. An indignant tone at how betrayed he felt.

It didn't make sense to him. Everyone in that group were thieving little shits, taking each scrap of food from under their noses when they had the chance. And more than half of the only family he had left decided to stay with him. It was originally going to be just him and the youngest of the three sisters; the middle sister needed _convincing._

 _You're dumb for thinking anything good can come from this place,_ he had told her one night.

_But they want to stay! Maybe there's a good reason for it._

She quickly realised why that was a mistake.

In the grand of scheme of things it didn't really matter to Hendery anyway. As hard as it was to deal with, he had to suck it up, and move past the fact that he was separated from them.

A part of him felt guilty at the somewhat cynical attitude he had built up for himself. It had made up a section of the wall that kept him protected from ever experiencing anything like it again.

His bleak outlook on life only became more bleak.

The sun was setting behind the trees as oranges and pinks filled up the sky above him. Glancing up, he eyes wandered through the branches and made direct contact with the sky. He knew what it meant. He was about to be sent out on his daily errand.

Hendery had no idea why they made him fetch water from the stream so late into the day.

He thought at one point that the chances of him being caught out by walkers was higher the later it got, so it was a chance for them to get rid of him.

Hendery had to immediately shake the thought from his head, _'They'd never be that cruel.'_

His direction of sight changed at the sound of his sister's voice telling him it was time to go to the stream. The young boy glanced at the two women before groaning and rolling his eyes.

 _'Why don't_ **_you_ ** _do it for once?'_

Pushing himself up off the ground along with his penny board, he walked over to where one sister was holding up two empty bottles of water.

They managed to take two bigger bottles of water from the group's storage when they left - because _apparently_ they were able to get their hands on that kind of thing - and they got by filling it up everyday with water from a nearby stream.

They tested the water beforehand, and while the two women were sceptical considering how far into the apocalypse they were, every time Hendery went back, he did a double-check to make sure it was still safe.

It put his own health at risk doing it every time, but he never fell ill and hadn't died...yet.

"Don't take forever out there. Come back safely," the youngest sister said.

Hendery felt a scoff bubbling up, but held it back.

 _'Yeah, they could never be that cruel,'_ he thought genuinely.

Silently, he took the empty bottles and his penny board and walked away from the campfire. He had a knife tucked into his pocket that he picked up after it fell out from when he was sitting under the tree.

When he reached the road, he put the board down and then one foot on top; he pushed himself along a few times before both feet ended up on the board.

His pink penny board. His one possession from when they ran away from home. It was the object he loved most, the thing he was given when he was fourteen because he loved skateboarding so much and would always ride on his friend's skateboards because his parents couldn't afford to buy him one of his own.

When they got enough money, they could only buy a penny board, but Hendery was thankful either way.

He had to admit, it wasn't the best thing to use for riding along rough, open roads, but it was something.

He could hear the sounds of broken up stone underneath his wheels and had to dodge a few pebbles so he didn't trip over. The breeze was hitting his arms and making him shudder lightly, and every so often he pushed along with his foot to pick up speed.

Several miles down the road, he came across a house and stopped for a brief moment to look at it.

Hendery had always seen this house on his travels to the stream, but never went inside it or even near it. The house seemed to him like it was nearly falling apart, especially from the outside, and it reminded him of haunted houses.

Not something he would inspect.

Hendery took a deep breath and continued his journey to the stream. He checked the water and it still seemed okay to him, so he got to work filling up the two bottles. Once they were mostly full, he ran back to his penny board and began pushing away to the other side of the road.

As soon as he got there, he heard a loud yell.

A name being called.

And once he turned around he saw some running out of the forest close to the house.

Hendery stopped pushing and moved to hide behind a tree while he watched the person run up the house and immediately enter it.

He blinked a few times. _Never_ in his life had he ever seen anything like it.

Soon after, three more people came out of the forest. They didn't look like walkers. Hendery knew that some of the zombies ran, but even then they didn't look like fresh rotting meat searching for their next meal.

They looked like three living humans who were searching for someone. Hendery put two and two together.

Eager to find out more, he waited to see what would happen and witnessed the three people - two adults and a child it appeared to be - go up to the house; they knocked on the door.

Hendery was astounded to see the door open and see _more_ people, people who looked different from the person running, standing there talking to the three of them.

After a few minutes, he saw them close the door and three people on the outside appear angry, as they descended the stairs and walked away, calling out the name again and again.

Hendery tried to make it out but couldn't, and before he was seen he put his penny board down on the road and pushed away as fast as he could.

Once he returned, his sisters asked him what took so long. He told them that it was walkers, which they believed in an instant.

It was only a little while later when the older sister decided she was exhausted and went to sleep. The younger sister stayed by her side and kept an eye on the fire.

Hendery had a burning sensation to go back to the house.

He told himself he would never inspect the place, but something drew him to it.

So, with his sister's back turned to her and the other one fast asleep, he crept away from them with his penny board in his hand and made his way to the house.

Once he arrived, he looked at it from top to bottom. His pulse was racing, nervous for what he was about to discover.

But he kept his guard up, and picking up his board, he walked over to the house.

As he got closer, he got nearer to the floor before he began crawling towards the building. He moved along the side of the house on his left, and crouched down below the fence.

Standing up slightly, he peered through bars and through the stained, cracked window. Inside, he saw a group of men comforting someone on the couch.

_'That must be the person I saw running.'_

He couldn't look for long before one of them came up to the window when he saw Hendery.

The young boy made a run for it, but didn't get far before he was being shouted at.

"Uh, excuse me? Can we help you?"

Hendery stopped in his tracks.

"Yes, hello, can we do anything for you?" the voice called again.

Hendery turned around and saw not one, not two, but eight men standing outside the door. He just _knew_ there were more people inside. He gulped.

He saw the person who spotted him fold his arms and say, "I'll ask one you more time, shall I? Can we do anything for you?"

"Why were you looking through the window?" another slightly taller man spoke.

Hendery bit the inside of his lip. He _knows_ he shouldn't say it. He _knows_ he should really just apologise, say they won't see him again and move on. He _knows_ that he shouldn't confess to what he's seen.

But he does anyway.

"I saw s-someone run...into the house."

The men looked at one another.

Hendery almost breathes a sigh of relief. That reaction means they _must_ let him go.

"Did you see what happened after they left?"

_'Don't confess. Just lie. Feign ignorance and leave.'_

"Y-Yes...I did."

They exchanged looks once again, a very nervous Hendery now playing with the hem of his top.

"Did they...leave? Go? Run away? Have you seen them since?"

 _'Why are they asking me all of these questions?'_ Then it hit him a split second later. _'Of course, idiot, there's a very frightened person in there who you've just admitted to seeing run in terror away from an obvious threat that_ **_wasn't_ ** _walkers.'_

"I haven't seen them. They did run into that forest and I guess they continued looking."

Once again, exchanging looks.

The redhead of the group looked at Hendery and sighed. "Look, I know you have no idea who we are, but the kid's terrified in there. He needs reassurance that they won't return and that he's safe."

"You're the eye witness we need," the tallest male suddenly spoke.

Hendery felt at a loss. What was terrifying, was that he was feeling his wall slowly come down.

He sighed, defeated. "Okay, where is he?"

The group of men directed Hendery into the house and into the living room where the boy who ran to the house was with three others.

The male looked up at the new face.

Hendery felt every part of his wall come down.

He swallowed as he sat across from him. The two boys looked at one another, but for some reason Hendery couldn't meet his gaze.

"Who is he?" the frightened male spoke. Hendery could sense his heart dropping at the fragile voice. He somehow knew he couldn't break him any further.

"He said that he saw you run to the house. And he also saw what happened after they left."

Out of the blue, Hendery felt a pair of hands wrapped around his own, "P-Please tell me they're gone… I don't wanna go back out there or have them find me… _Please_ tell me they ran away and they're not hanging around…"

Hendery finally looked up at the boy. His gaze held so much sorrow and fear.

He had been trying to work out his name since he heard it, and wanted to confirm his thoughts.

"First of all, I heard them call out your name… Is it… Xiao Jun?"

The boy looked like he was about to break. He nodded, tears falling from his eyes.

"Xiao Jun…" Hendery didn't know where it came from, but it felt like he would suddenly risk it all for him.

A stranger he saw running away, that he's barely known for five minutes, whose name sounded so pleasant falling from his lips.

_'Stay focused, Hendery.'_

"Xiao Jun," the boy stared intently at him, the others waiting patiently, "they've gone. I saw them step away from the house and go through the forest on the other side. They continued calling out your name, but whatever one of these people said must have convinced them enough." The male in front of him softened his grip on Hendery's hands. "I think you're safe now."

Xiao Jun instantly moved to sit beside Hendery.

"Please, stay with us."

The young boy considered his sisters, how they had probably noticed that he was gone, and were either worried sick, or had said good riddance to him.

But then he regarded Xiao Jun with gentle eyes and felt he had a duty.

He looked at the other men surrounding him. Hendery didn't think they could possibly accommodate another person.

But the redhead slowly nodded, "You can stay."

"We do have one more person here, but he's upstairs. I'm sure you'll meet him soon," the man who spoke to him originally said quietly, "I'm Ten, by the way. Sorry for shouting at you earlier."

Hendery brushed it off easily. His focus turned to Xiao Jun.

_'How did I get caught up in this?'_

He wasn't exactly angry or upset though. He had a job to do. And thirteen new people in his life.


	16. Part 1 | Renjun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/455339907247b4c90f1c2fc6a9212a3b/82d5c26b11d1d492-06/s640x960/2c802b3a5bf5b06b404b583c24f8765cf356a74c.png)

_“I studied arts at college. Painting, drawing, things like that were my favourite things to do. I was in class when the alarm went off but it wasn’t for a fire. In fact, we were all told to go down to the sports hall. None of us knew why. That’s when we heard banging outside one of the fire exits and we were all terrified. The real dickheads of the college were all joking around, saying “what if it’s zombies and they all break in and we all die?”_

_Of course, that turned out to be true._

_Once the building was safe, we were told we could walk around the school but we weren’t to leave it under any circumstances which, I was all for. No way was I going out there in a hurry._

_It must have been a few months. We lost teachers who went out to get food and students who thought they were well equipped and brave enough to face them._

_Then the night before I found this house, a group of boys were all planning to leave, and I couldn’t help but overhear their ridiculous plan. My mistake. That only made them coax me into going with them. So that night, with only my sketchbook and pencil case, the water bottle that I had with me from that very first day and a cereal bar I hadn’t gotten round to eating that I totally forgot about, I left with them._

_And I was right about it being a ridiculous plan. In fact it was a bloody stupid, deadly plan._

_Our main goal was to find new shelter. There were six of us including me. Then five. Then four. Then three. And it was along the winding road that led to this house that I lost the other two.”_

\--

Renjun sat, leaning against a log, with his sketchbook in one hand and a pencil in the other. He was glad that he still able to keep his belongings, and a sketchbook became really useful to him when he needed it for writing down notes or doodling maps.

It was less helpful when a pencil broke.

“Shit,” he mumbled to himself, the two other boys left in his small group, one blonde, one brown-haired, regarding him with a fixed expression of, _why do you keep drawing in that goddamn book?_ He eyed them.

He remained unruffled by them, yet was irritated about the whole ordeal and felt foolish.

Renjun reached into his bag to find his sharpener when he remembered. They had broken it a couple of weeks prior to get the blade out. He exhaled, exasperated and rummaged through his pencil case to see if he had a spare one, which he did.

Renjun continued drawing the map that he consistently updated in order to keep track of his location. The two other boys thought that it was pointless, but Renjun paid them no mind.

 _'Why did I get caught up in this? I could've just minded my business and stayed behind at the school like I was supposed to and_ **_not_ ** _risk death by stepping outside the confines of that sports hall.'_ Renjun's contemplation made him roll his eyes. Inside, he felt he had every reason to be hostile towards these guys, but at the same time remembered how they lost the other three.

It was brutal. It was cruel. It made his stomach turn even just thinking about it.

He chewed on the end of the pencil nervously as one of the boys approached him, "We're moving soon, alright?"

"Come on, Renjun!" the other boy piped up. "We need to keep moving otherwise we'll die out here."

Renjun bit his tongue. He _really_ didn't want to start another argument. He sighed - they were right, although in the current state of affairs it was possible to die anywhere - and went to put his belongings back in his bag. Before he could grab his sketchbook, the blonde seized it, opened it and flicked to a random page.

Unfortunately, he had picked a page where Renjun had written something personal and private. He had to remind himself that using parts of his sketchbook as a diary was not a good idea.

The boy started reading it out in a dramatic fashion, _"Is it crazy to develop a crush during a zombie apocalypse? He had pink hair, almost neon…"_

Renjun snatched the book back in an instant, his cheeks almost the same colour as the hair of the mystery boy described in the book.

"Who the fuck's he on about?" the darker-haired boy asked as they both began laughing.

"None of your concern," Renjun nearly stuttered as he stuffed the book back into his bag. He knew now to never get it out again, they had become aware of his kryptonite. Renjun reminded himself to tear the page out when he got the chance, it was useless to him now anyway. The neon-pink-haired boy he spotted from a distance a few months into the apocalypse walking down the street with a group of people before disappearing would never know who he was.

And _yes,_ it _was_ crazy to develop a crush on someone during a zombie apocalypse.

Even if they did catch each other's eyes for just a second that day.

Renjun stood and put his backpack on, making sure he stayed behind the other two as much as possible.

"Come on, Renjun, let's get going," the blonde said.

"Hey, we might even meet your crush along the way!" the dark-haired boy said, snickering.

"Shut _up,"_ he muttered, as the two of them nudged each other chuckling.

Renjun rolled his eyes.

It was about an hour of non-stop walking and the three of them were tired. It was a warm, sunny afternoon, and there were barely any clouds in the sky.

"We should stop for a second," Renjun, who happened to be the youngest of the three, called out.

"No way," the blonde boy replied, looking back at him, despite his legs wanting to give way on him, "we gotta keep going! Find that shelter!"

"But we've been travelling for miles!"

"Don't exaggerate," the brown-haired boy spoke.

They came to the end of an open road and decided to walk alongside it. Renjun paced himself as the other two almost looked like they were running.

The further they got down the road, the later it got.

Orange was starting to appear more vividly in the sky, and there was a faint hue of pink.

"Hey, is that the same pink hair colour of your crush?" More chuckles.

God, he wished they would just drop it already.

When they were a mile or two down the road, they heard faint growls and grumbles coming from inside the forest. The three of them stopped dead.

The longer they waited, the louder it became.

"Guys, we shouldn't wait here…" Renjun whispered, but they didn't appear to be listening. In fact, they chose to _inspect_ the noise. "What are you doing?" he whispered, but loudly.

Again, they didn't listen to him, as they went deeper still and crept ever so quietly into the forest.

Renjun couldn't believe his eyes as he witnessed the two of them go past a couple of trees. He however stood completely still, not wanting to move.

That's when, out of nowhere, a walker appeared and grabbed onto the brown-haired boy's leg, causing him to scream. The other boy shrieked as he tried to get his friend away from the walker, and was successful, but was knocked back by the sheer force into another walker that appeared and held onto their arms, locking onto them.

Renjun had no weapon but couldn't _not_ help. He found a large branch and picked it up with the remaining strength he had. He ran over to hit each walker over the head, but halted as soon as he saw the creatures sink their teeth into both boys' necks.

Dropping the branch in complete shock, his heart beating at a thousand beats per minute, he backed away as the walkers ate into their bodies.

As soon as they were done, they turned on Renjun. That's when he noticed dozens of them appear. He looked around before he nearly tripped up on the road behind him, then sprinted away and down the road.

He didn't stop for one second, the shock still affecting him several yards down.

He took a pause for a brief few seconds behind a tree and peered around it to see there were still some walkers approaching. Taking deep breaths, he gathered they were far enough away to cause any harm right then, but he couldn't stay put for too long. Evening was just around the corner.

_We need to keep moving otherwise we'll die out here!_

The words echoed in his mind and he took another breath and continued running. Thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind as the only thing he repeated in his head over and over again was _run for your life._

He ran for a few hundred more yards before he came upon a house to his left.

 _'Shelter,'_ was his first thought, before he saw three people exit the house. They caught his eye immediately.

_'Keep going, stay here, keep going, stay here, keep going, stay…'_

Eventually, he thought, _'screw it',_ and jogged up to the three males.

Before one of them could speak, Renjun, who was out of breath, said, "Walkers...many...approaching…"

They exchanged worried looks, "How many?" the centre male asked.

"So many, _dozens."_ He wasn't trying to scare them, he was trying to warn them. That's when they heard the noises.

"That's a familiar sound," the male on the left said urgently.

"Come on, let’s tell the others, we'll go out again later," the male on the right, said.

Renjun nodded and turned on his heels to run away since, he figured that people lived there and they wouldn't want a complete stranger, before the first voice that spoke called out to him, "Hey! Where you going? You're gonna die! Come inside!"

Renjun didn't want to bother them, but saw the small mass come closer and decided he would rather accept the help than die. He sighed before jogging back up to them and following them inside.

"Lucas!" he heard one man inside the house say, "Jaehyun! Winwin, what's--" Then the new stranger saw Renjun as the man addressed as Jaehyun shut the door. The young blonde boy remembered him as the centre male.

"He came running up to us, told us walkers were coming, and then we heard them _and_ saw them."

"Walkers?" a similarly blonde male came out of the living room saying. "What are we gonna do?"

"How many do you reckon there were?"

Renjun nearly tripped over his words as he said, "A dozen or so, maybe more."

"We go out there and fight them then," the man referred to as Lucas said. There were people sitting in the living room, and some of them had come out to see what was going on.

One blue-haired man saw Renjun and spoke through gritted teeth, "Do you know how many people we have here now? Are we really--?"

"Doyoung, there are walkers outside," the third male from outside who was called Winwin deadpanned as he passed the taller man, Doyoung.

Some others who were sitting in the living room grabbed their weapons when they heard about the incoming threat and stood to leave the house.

One male turned back to Renjun, "Go in there, sit with them, don't make Taeil too aware of your presence," before marching away, leaving Renjun stunned.

The blonde boy from inside the house appeared beside him and said, "I'm Jungwoo, come and sit down." As they both entered the living room, Renjun asked Jungwoo who "Taeil" was. "Oh, he's the guy upstairs. He was the first person to find this place, and he's kind of annoyed at everyone right now." The young boy nodded as the others looked at him. One male with dark hair came over and greeted him with a frail smile, asking him his name.

"Renjun...I didn't mean to bother you guys, I just wanted to find shelter."

"And here you are," he replied. "Kun, nice to meet you."

Renjun couldn't believe he was getting to know these strangers so quickly, but decided not to think about it too much. He was, however, curious about Taeil.

"Why did that guy say to not make Taeil aware of my presence?"

Kun exhaled, "Just...look at how many people are here." Renjun did so and it registered for the first time since arriving how many people actually _were_ in the house. "Taeil grew less and less fond of it until he snapped when Mark arrived."

"Mark…?" As if on cue, another male stood and turned to look at Renjun, and he responded with an _ah._

"Yeah, I'm Mark. He wasn't really too happy that _another_ person arrived so he's just kinda...stayed upstairs since."

"Until he helped Xiao Jun! Who was... coincidentally the next person who arrived...but definitely since then he hasn't been downstairs," Jungwoo jumped in to say.

Renjun was taking everything in all at once, surprised at every new revelation, and when he was about to ask who Xiao Jun was, a boy who looked rather sad and lonely in Renjun's eyes gave a small wave as he sat beside someone _else._

"So...I've got to ask, how many people _are_ here?"

Gunshots and loud screams from the walkers could be heard after the question was asked, and they all turned to look outside the window as the remaining men fought the small horde of zombies.

They winced at the sight, and soon after, Kun answered his question, "Fifteen, now that you've arrived, and believe it or not, but we all found this place one by one today."

_'Fifteen? No wonder Taeil's pissed. And all in one day? My God…'_

Renjun was about to leave right there and then.

But he had been introduced to the remainder of the group, and now knew the names and faces of a whole group of new people.

Renjun had the choice between continuing to run, and staying in the shelter that he found.

And for once, he decided to stay put.


	17. Part 1 | Jeno

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/19d928de5694349ef16a86cbd40c22fa/b3b658b9e75e4b13-22/s540x810/c80f689b4f5488e74869194c510dad43ebba4ae2.png)

_“I went to college but never went to any of my classes, instead I used to just play basketball with a few friends. I saw a zombie for the first time during one of our games. I tried to go back and warn my parents, but I was met with being kicked out. They were so blind to it. I lived with a friend for a couple of months into the apocalypse, but we had a massive falling out, so I left._

_I walked through the same long alleyway that I’d usually walk through when I heard some of them chasing me. They were fast, so I made a run for it round the back of some houses before I found myself on my own doorstep again. My Mum said “I thought we kicked you out”, but when she looked past me she saw more of them, and instantly brought me inside. The walkers saw and followed us into the house, so we had to leave out the back door. We got in Dad’s car and just drove, drove as far as we could, through a long tunnel and out the other side. We thought we were free._

_We were, for a few months, we found shelter in a clothing store, but we had to go again._

_We got into our car, Dad kept driving and driving, and we were so close, we were almost out of this place..._

_Until a bunch of zombies jumped onto the car, made Dad lose his balance and crash it into a tree. None of them survived. I had to fend for myself from that point on. I got out and ran as far away as I could, settling down in the deepest part of a forest._

_I saw two women looking for their younger brother, you know how that worked out.”_

\--

Jeno opened his pack of cigarettes and found only one left in the box. He scoffed at the sight and wished he had stolen some more before the apocalypse began. He made eleven cigarettes last six months and was about to have the twelfth and last one. Reluctantly, he took it out and placed it between his lips, chucking the box to the ground. He brought out his small, cheap lighter and lit the end before inhaling.

By himself, a little bored and agitated, he took the tube from his lips and exhaled as he looked around him. The sun was setting as it shone through the branches and beamed down onto the grass.

Ahead, he saw a walker who had spotted him a while ago come closer. Jeno pulled a knife out of his back pocket and took a step towards it; once he was close enough, he stabbed it in the middle of the forehead and it fell to the floor. The knife came out with difficulty as some blood splattered onto his trousers. He glanced at the new spots that accompanied the old dry ones that had stained the material as he took another hit of his cigarette. Trudging over to a nearby tree, he wiped the sides of the blade along the bark to get it as clean as possible before tucking the knife back into his pocket.

Jeno only had a small bag with him that could fit the tiniest bottle of water in it along with his box of cigarettes and lighter. _‘I should probably find food soon.’_

The temperature was lowering but it was still warm as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and started walking in the direction of an exit to the forest. Along the way, he finished his cigarette and threw it to the side. Pulling out the small bottle of water, he saw only the tiniest amount and decided that while it might not be worth it, he needed _something._ Any form of hydration was better than dying in this heat. He opened the bottle and drank the remains, choosing to keep it instead of throwing it away, _‘I may find water soon. Don’t throw away something useful.’_

He came to an opening that led out to a long road. In the distance, on the other side of the road in another forest, Jeno saw two women walking around frantically calling out a name, a name he could hear loudly and clearly.

“Hendery! Hendery! Fuck’s sake, where _is_ he?” As soon as one woman turned to face Jeno, she shouted, “Hey!”

 _‘Fuck, shit, run, hide!’_ The young male turned right and began running down the road, but they were too fast for him, and one of the women stopped in front of him. Jeno came to a halt. She looked dishevelled, worn out, and she ran a hand through her hair with tears in her eyes as she breathed out, _“Please_ help us....”

“It’s our younger brother! He took off when I was asleep and when _she_ wasn’t looking…”

“Fuck you! I didn’t know he was gonna just leave like that!”

“Well _you_ should’ve been paying more attention…”

Jeno drowned out the sound of the argument as he tried to figure out how to escape.

However, he was suddenly brought out of his thoughts with, “Will _you_ please help us look for him? He’s quite tall, has black hair that quite long, he was wearing ripped black jeans and like a top with something denim over it just…” She ran out of breath, tears continuing to fall. “We don’t know where he is...we’re so worried that he’s…”

The woman behind Jeno spoke up, “No! Don’t you _dare_ say it!”

“We’ll do anything!”

Jeno honestly wanted nothing more than to be left alone, but then he remembered his friends. His parents. The people he had to leave behind.

He coughed quietly, “Do you have water?” The woman in front of him nodded, watching him take out the tiny bottle.

“Is _that_ the only thing you have?”

“Yep, and I just finished it.”

“We can fill it up for you, come on.” Jeno followed to the two women to a small area of grass just outside the forest and over to a bed of leaves where, inside it, were two larger bottles filled with water. The taller woman took Jeno’s bottle and poured water into it until it was full as she explained, “Hendery went to the stream to get this. He’s been doing it ever since we set up camp here. He says the water from that stream is always fine, and it does _seem_ okay.” She handed the bottle back to him and he thanked her. “No worries, you need to drink something.” 

The shorter woman stopped the two of them as she said, “Come _on,_ we’ve got a younger brother to search for!”

“Even left with his penny board,” the taller woman mumbled to herself as she and Jeno stood up. Jeno put his bottle of water back in his bag. “Right,” she began, “let’s go find him.”

It was a long and tedious walk down the road that seemed to last forever as evening drew nearer, the orange in the sky growing more vivid as the sun started to set.

Halfway down the road, the shorter woman started to give up hope. Jeno was searching in the forest beside him and across the road for _any_ sign of a tall, dark-haired boy but to no avail.

“Goddamnit, we’re _never_ gonna find him…”

“We will, eventually just don’t--”

“Quick! Hide!” the shorter woman suddenly said as she pushed the other two behind a tree.

Startled and curious, they peered around the side of the tree to see a young blonde male running down the road in _their_ direction.

“Who is that?” the shorter woman whispered.

“No idea, but can you see what’s behind him?”

The three of them glanced over at where the tall woman was pointing and saw a group of walkers chasing the young boy.

“We should help him,” Jeno suggested.

“What? _Fuck_ no.”

Out of nowhere, they saw him run away from the road and out of sight. They carefully moved deeper into the forest. It wasn’t before long that they saw a bigger group of people appear and begin killing the walkers.

Jeno watched in amazement.

“Oh my God…” the taller woman spoke, “what if Hendery’s one of them? What if he really _is_ a....”

“No… No! This can’t be, I--” Jeno watched as the two people beside him backed away from the tree.

“Oh God...it’s so possible he could’ve been...eaten alive by…”

_“Fuck…”_

Jeno looked back as the swarm of people stabbed, shot and pushed walkers to the ground.

The words wouldn’t come to him.

Evening was already here.

“This is all my fault,” the shorter woman fell to her knees as she cried out, her sister pulling her close. The taller woman looked up at Jeno.

“You’ve tried to help, but please...just go…”

Jeno stepped forward, “Are you sure?”

“Just go!” she said loudly, her own tears beginning to fall as she tried to reassure her sister that it _wasn’t_ her fault, before pulling her up and running away with her deep into the forest.

The young male backed away hesitantly, unsure if he should really leave, but the second the older sister looked back and glared at him, he turned on his heels and sprinted.

The last of the walkers were killed and Jeno witnessed the group of men leave them behind and go back to a house. A house that Jeno had never seen before.

He didn’t know how he had never seen it, but he decided he was too curious and too exposed outside that he had to see for himself what was going on.

Cautiously, he crept towards the house and heard voices inside. Multiple voices, but he couldn’t figure out how many people were in there.

The sun was setting at the end of the road and he gulped. He sauntered around the outside of the house, but as soon as he came to one particular window, he saw a blonde boy sat with two others either side of him. They made eye contact, and _somehow,_ Jeno recognised him straight away.

_‘He’s the boy who was running.’_

The dark-haired man to the right of him spotted him and stood. Jeno was about to back away when someone else stepped outside.

And another person, and another person, and someone else.

“Um…”

“Who are you?”

Jeno didn’t know where it came from, but he had nothing else left to lose. He shouted to the blonde boy in the window, “I saw you running!”

Everyone stopped when he said those words, the boy inside the house standing and walking to the front door. He pushed through the men standing in the doorway. Everyone was silent.

“You...saw me running?”

Jeno bit the inside of his lip; all eyes were on him, “Y-Yes… I did.”

“When? You could’ve--” the boy stopped himself.

“Just now, I...I wanted to help, trust me, but these two sisters wanted my help trying to look for someone, someone called Hendery…”

“Hendery?” spoke a chorus of a few of the men standing around the blonde.

Jeno looked confused as, after a few seconds, _another_ boy emerged from the house.

_Quite tall, black hair, ripped black jeans, a top with something denim over it._

“Holy shit…” Jeno mumbled to himself.

“You saw my sisters?” spoke the dark-haired boy.

“Okay, what the _fuck_ is going on?” a taller man stepped forward to ask.

_‘That must be Hendery.’_

“You’re Hendery, right?”

The tall boy stared at him, narrowing his eyes. He folded his arms. Soon after, the boy who followed him out appeared over his shoulder.

Jeno had _no_ idea what was going on.

Hendery glared at him, “I’ll ask once again, did you see my sisters?”

Jeno found that he had no choice but to answer honestly.

“Yes. They then disappeared into the forest. I don’t know where they went.”

He saw the boy in front of him unfold his arms as he stared at him. Jeno’s eyes were genuine and were trying to convey several messages to Hendery. He thought the boy was going to kill him.

“They asked me to help look for you, but they became convinced that you turned into one of them after seeing the mob that followed him,” Jeno explained, indicating the blonde.

Hendery ultimately looked guilty, but Jeno felt it was because of something different. He covered his mouth with his hand as the boy behind him asked, “You okay, Hendery?” He shook his head in response.

“Listen, I’m so sorry… I never expected to find you here like this. I was going to stay with them because I wasn’t convinced that you were one of them, but they told me to go and they went away…” Jeno felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes. Hendery looked at him. “There’s no reason for you to want me to stick around.”

“There’s no reason for me to hate you.”

Everyone was surprised at his response. Including Jeno. “But, but…”

“I _chose_ to come here, I _chose_ to stay here...and now they’re probably gonna die… As little of a connection it may be, you’re the only bridge I have now...”

It seemed like a weak reason, but for Jeno, it held so much weight.

He felt his chest tighten. They stared at one another, the men around them astounded at the exchange.

“What’s your name?” Hendery asked.

“Jeno.”

An old bridge burnt, a new bridge formed.


	18. Part 1 | Haechan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/75a2cda74d67b2b9cfec46f1e20199c1/8d3d67cd4ff962eb-90/s540x810/51fdd685b4416c0041f5611bba56e3a5dbe1553c.png)

_“I stayed in this underground pub or bar type place. There were slot machines but those didn’t work. I was dragged there from my school by some relatives and some family friends. I didn’t really want to because I thought school was the safest place to be, but they played the “family values” card._

_I guess we’re all a bit selfish. They had food, they had alcohol; I was one of the only people who bothered to go out and find water because I really didn’t want to be drinking cider every day. That shit became disgusting after a while. How did I stay with them for as long as I did… It must have been a few months before I decided I had had enough._

_We were just sitting there, it was late afternoon, they were getting drunk playing card games in the middle of a fucking apocalypse, so I picked up my bag, grabbed a bottle of water that I had to tip out because it was filled halfway with vodka, and three boxes of cigarettes. That’s all I could get, they were eating the rest of the food. And I snuck out. Left them there. I only had a screwdriver and a hammer as a weapon, I don’t even know why or how they had stuff like that. I got some yards down the road when I heard loud shouting and I just made a run for it, away from town, through some fields. It must have been a few hours before I got to this place.”_

\--

Donghyuck observed the scene in front of him: his family, shuffling cards and dealing them out, ready to play poker. His cheeks were nearly the same colour of his hair: bright pink with a _hint_ of anger. If a hint meant seething anger that was ready to burst any second.

Infuriated, uncomfortable and embarrassed because of his family’s actions, he averted his gaze away from them and towards one of the broken slot machines. His hands were stuffed in his jean pockets. _‘Damn it, I need to go.’_

The question of how still lingered as he moved away from where he was standing, his mind wandering to and fro. It stopped when a sudden memory came back to him.

_Donghyuck sauntered through the street, dawdling behind the large group of people he was following. It was pretty quiet, void of any walkers, so they decided they were safe. Safe enough to walk down a street completely exposed._

_They began to make their usual shortcut through an alleyway, when Donghyuck took a chance look to the left._

_And the boy whose eyes he found when he glanced in that direction stared right back at him._

_They were quite far away from one another, but Donghyuck could see all of his features clearly._

_Blonde hair, messy, possibly from days of travelling, dark brown eyes that seemed mysterious and probably held intrigue because of Donghyuck's neon pink hair._

_The pink-haired boy couldn't spend much longer admiring him before he was told to hurry up and was pulled along by his arm._

_As he was dragged down the alleyway, he considered pushing himself away and running back to the boy._

_But they pulled him too far away, and no matter how many times he looked back, he didn't see any sign of the boy coming to him._

_'Goddamnit what I would do to turn back time and just go to him, he could've been my escape,'_ Donghyuck thought as an image of the boy's face flashed in his mind.

He wondered how he was able to see someone so clearly from so far away.

The suddenly despondent boy's eyebrows perked up quickly at the thought as he tried to figure out how he was going to get out of there.

He tried to push the image of the blonde boy to the back of his mind as he approached his backpack and looked through it.

There was a bottle of water and a bottle of cider inside; he grimaced at the latter and took it out, putting it aside. His schoolwork had long since disappeared, Donghyuck theorising that it could have only been thrown away by his parents or one of the family friends.

Instead, there was a torch, a hammer and a screwdriver, and a box of cigarettes. He pulled out the box and bit the inside of his lip, shaking his head. Donghyuck had _never_ smoked before the apocalypse, but being around his family for so long made him take it up.

He told himself he should really try to quit.

The young boy didn't even know how they managed to seemingly get their hands on _every_ box of cigarettes, but there were certainly many lying around, some full, some half empty, most completely empty.

He told himself to quit, but he thought, _'Just take a couple extra boxes. Just in case.'_

Putting the box back inside, he knew he had to be careful about it.

Sauntering away from his backpack after shutting it again, he put his hands back in his pockets and poked his tongue out into his cheek.

There was one full box that he could see sat on the side. A half empty box just resting on the arm of one of the chairs. And he knew that the box sat next to the beer pump behind the counter of the bar they were in had a couple in them.

Donghyuck decided to go for the two stray ones left in the box first, thinking that if he took one out and pretended to smoke it and placed one behind his ear, no one would think twice about it.

His plan worked as he held one tube between his lips. He then moved back to where he was originally standing before continuing onto where the half empty box was, and while no one was looking, he quietly snatched it up and put it in his back pocket. Moving cautiously over to the full box, he did the same, making sure not to bring too much attention to himself as he almost speed-walked back to his backpack and picked it up.

Loud guffaws erupted throughout the house as he heard his father say, "I won, bitch!" followed by another almost deafening cackle.

Donghyuck was _humiliated._

He knew exactly how to get out of the house, he just had to time his escape perfectly. Then, he remembered the cigarette between his lips and decided to use that to his advantage.

As he was about to leave with his backpack in front of him, his father yelled at him, "Where the fuck are _you_ going?"

"Just outside, to smoke," Donghyuck nervously replied, keeping his back to him.

There was more laughter as his father said, "You don't need to go outside to smoke! You can just do it in here!"

Donghyuck was about to give up, but he remained as steadfast as possible as he put the tube in his mouth behind his free ear and sauntered away to his "bedroom", which was really a separate lounge area.

"Make sure he stays safe in his room," his mother suddenly piped up; one of the family friends nodded in response and followed on behind the pink-haired boy. He kept an eye on Donghyuck until the young male glared at him and told him to _fuck off._

With the door to his bedroom shut, Donghyuck concluded that there was only one escape route: through the window. It was going to be a struggle, but he was determined.

Approaching the window, backpack on, he pushed the window open as far as it could possibly go. _'Why can't these be like the other windows that you can easily climb out of?'_

Donghyuck knew he couldn't waste any more time, and after a couple of minutes of struggling, his feet found the ground below him and, shutting the window gently, he made a run for it.

The pink-haired boy didn't stop sprinting for one second until he was at the end of the street and hiding behind a brick wall. Out of nowhere, there was shouting, "Donghyuck! _Donghyuck!"_

_'Goddamnit, they're fast.'_

"Donghyuck, where the _fuck_ are you?!" The voice belonging to his father felt like a thunder cloud above his head as he ran down the alleyway and out into the open.

Before he could think too much longer about which direction to go in, the blonde boy came back to his mind.

Donghyuck decided to follow his lead.

The voices became a distant memory, as did the faces as he tried to figure out where the mysterious boy could have gone.

_'It's not that I'm looking for him or anything...he just seemed to know where he was going.'_

It was slowly getting darker as the sun set lower in the sky. He contemplated using his torch, but was worried about using its battery. Instead, he decided to continue going for as long as there was still light in the sky.

It was a while before he managed to get away from the streets and back alleys; Donghyuck thought he would _never_ find his way out.

As he continued his journey, he pulled his hammer and screwdriver out a few times to deal with walkers, striking them over the head with the former and stabbing some between the eyes with the latter; he didn't know why, but he was always inclined to clean off the weapons every time he used them. It became a force of habit.

Orange slowly gave way to deep blue as night began to take over. Donghyuck reached for his torch and turned it on, reminding himself to turn it off every time he came to the odd lamppost that still worked miraculously.

After walking for miles, his legs exhausted, he came to a stop next to the beginning of a long open road. Donghyuck briefly considered setting up camp in one of the forests, but just knew that nothing good would be waiting for him in there, and he knew better than to just wait around to find out he was right.

He began the long trek down the road and along the way found an old broken skateboard, split in half and completely discarded.

_'Who would break a perfectly good skateboard?'_

The boy exhaled as he continued his journey. It seemed that nothing suspicious was happening, until he started hearing voices.

They were close by, and were very distinct from one another. Donghyuck couldn't quite make out what they were talking about, but just knew it had to be more trouble. And he really couldn't deal with more of that.

Carefully, he stepped closer towards the source of the voices, making sure he stayed hidden as much as possible. Through the trees, he could see zombie corpses lying all over the ground and once he looked up, he had to blink a few times.

A house was there, right in front of him. And there were people outside too. Donghyuck decided he _had_ to get a closer look.

He kept himself hidden behind a tree and took a peek around the left hand side. The first face he set eyes on was _extremely_ familiar.

The closer he paid attention, the more he realised.

_'Oh…oh my God…'_

It was him. The boy. He was alive. And standing right over there. Talking to a bunch of other guys.

The boy he saw standing in the distance that for a split second he thought for _sure_ wasn't real, was standing there, in the doorway of a house.

Donghyuck had to make himself known.

At that point, the group of men wandered back into the house. He had to do _something._ If not for him to see the blonde boy again, but for the boy to see that Donghyuck _was_ really standing there that day looking at him.

Taking a deep breath in, he wandered up to the house. _'Fake injury, play it cool, fake injury, play it cool…'_

He chose the latter as he pulled out one of the cigarettes still behind his ear and went to sit down on the steps. Thinking of how to explain his sudden appearance away, he brought the tube to his lips and lit the end of it.

After a few seconds, the door behind him opened and he heard footsteps behind him. The door shut.

"Last time I checked we didn't have a pink-haired guy in our team."

Donghyuck turned his head to the left to see a guy with black hair take a seat beside him.

"Let me guess, you just happened to stumble upon this place?"

Donghyuck's entire speech went out the window.

"I mean...is this really the kind of place you find willingly?"

The boy chuckled, "I guess not."

There were a short few seconds of awkward silence. "Mark, nice to meet you," he held out his hand. The pink-haired boy didn't quite know how to react, but chose to shake his hand in the end.

"Donghyuck. I had to get away from a bunch of people and just get out of town."

"You and most of the people here," Mark replied genuinely. Donghyuck asked how he knew he was out there. "Saw you through the window."

Out of nowhere, the door opened again, "Mark, what are you--" the voice stopped talking as the two seated males stood and turned to face a redhead. "Hmm."

The pink-haired boy took another hit of his cigarette and began shifting uncomfortably.

"I saw him through the window. He came up to the house and just sat down."

The redhead looked at Donghyuck like he was about to implode before re-entering the house, leaving the door ajar.

"Follow me," Mark said.

"Are you sure? Don't think I should do that…"

"Come on, they have a hard time saying no to newcomers," said Mark as he led Donghyuck into the house.

His mind suddenly went to the boy.

A tall blue-haired man came into the hallway and discovered that Mark had let Donghyuck into the house.

An exhalation left his lips, "Make yourself at home, I guess," before the redhead entered the hallway.

Donghyuck was ready to turn and leave but remembered why he was here.

As soon as Donghyuck followed Mark into the living room, they caught eyes once again.

The mysterious boy he saw in the street was _this_ boy, and by the way he stared back at Donghyuck, he recognised him straight away.

They avoided each other's gaze as the redhead appeared beside him.

"We're taking in everyone now, is that our deal?" a dark brown-haired male whispered to the man beside him.

"Guess so, Winwin, we're like a goddamn hotel."

The redhead addressed the group, "Guys, this is…?"

The pink-haired boy gulped as he eyed everyone, the last person being the blonde boy. "Donghyuck."

"Donghyuck…! Make yourself comfortable, can guarantee you won't be the last. I'm Taeyong by the way."

They shook hands before Taeyong turned and left the new arrival to be introduced to everyone; he rested his hand on the banister and rubbed his face. Looking up the stairs, he knew who was sat up there just waiting to snap again. He knew that if they kept letting people into the house, it would become too much.

"I'm so sorry, Taeil."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a few edits have been made to the chapter, one of the comments talks about something in the first version of this chapter;


	19. Part 1 | Jaemin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/337cd37a1b131cc17eefda9d2e07c920/128b2fac02f3ec6f-2b/s640x960/31e3df3f0ac97fff153340cab3e40b60aad47c17.png)

_“I was on the bus when I saw one for the first time, but I passed by it so quickly that I thought I was going crazy. Every time I’d get off the bus I had to walk down this long path surrounded by trees that would lead me to the street where I lived, and when I did it this time, I could hear noises over the sound of the music I was listening to. They started appearing, so I made a run for it back home._

_I stopped going outside. I didn’t tell my parents why for a month. That’s when the walkers got so close that they saw them outside._

_We left immediately. We had a garage and our car was inside it so no walkers could get to it. My Dad had to drive slowly, there were still people trying to get out and as we were driving, I saw how people would kill the walkers. I noticed how everyone went straight for the head._

_We were so close to getting out, but when we came to a stop, they climbed all over the car. I thought at that moment I was gonna die, but when one smashed one of the windows and grabbed my Mum, I picked up the nearest knife and stabbed it, right between the eyes._

_And then I did something I thought I wouldn’t do: I got out of the car._

_I can still hear my parents screaming my name._

_I was picked up by a group of people when they noticed how many of them were following me. I spent the next few months drinking, moving from place to place, and…I took up smoking, but I don’t do it very often. Then, the night I found the house, I got separated from them. I actually thought they were in this house, but that turned out to not be true.”_

\--

Jaemin picked up another card from the deck in the centre of the table and stared at it, pushing an eyebrow up in concentration. His eyes found his opponent before he said, "Stick."

Heavy-hearted, uneasy and bereaved, he nervously waited for the male opposite him to make his decision.

"Twist," he monotoned before picking up another card. Scoffing upon seeing it, the man opposite Jaemin threw his cards down, "Bust."

Jaemin won the apple. He put his cards down, showing a nine of hearts, a seven of diamonds and an ace of clubs.

"Goddamn you," the older male forced out a chuckle while shaking his head. The younger boy picked up the green apple and wiped it with his top. He felt a little guilty that he won the apple, but at the same time, his opponent chose to gamble with it.

Taking a bite, Jaemin spoke, "Shouldn't gamble with food." He walked away but groaned a little at himself, _'I feel like such an asshole.'_

Stopping in his tracks, he turned and watched as his opponent stood up and gathered the cards together. He briefly shuffled them before straightening them out and making them neat so they could go back in the box.

"Hey…" the younger boy began, sauntering up to him, "I'll cut off some bits on the other side for you."

The older male waves his hand, "No, no, no, you won it fair and square. And you're right, when food is so scarce, gambling with it is the worst decision to make. But take it, eat it, you deserve it."

Jaemin stared at the fruit in his hand and swallowed the bite he was chewing. He almost felt inclined to throw it away, but knew better than to waste perfectly good food, especially in the middle of an apocalypse. He regarded the older male with careful eyes, looking for some sort of reassurance that he could go on eating.

When the male glanced up, his gaze softened as he looked at Jaemin, "Eat it, Jae, you need some food, you haven't eaten since yesterday morning."

As if on cue, Jaemin's stomach growled, to which the male opposite hardened his gaze. The younger boy accepted defeat and ruffled his light brown hair before taking another bite of the apple.

"Thank you," he said while chewing. The older male grabbed the box of cards and his bottle of beer before passing Jaemin and patting him on the shoulder with his free hand, a tight-lipped smile on his face.

Jaemin began walking past the table when he heard a female voice, "Everyone! Get over here right now!"

He followed the rest of their group to where the leader was standing and sat in between two people who were a similar age to him. There was chatter everywhere as people talked among themselves.

Jaemin hugged his knees close to his chest as the two teenagers either side of him stared at the apple, jealous. He looked back and forth between them before he placed the bitten apple upright in his lap.

They gazed at him and the boy to the left asked him, "Where'd you get that?"

Jaemin's eyes turned to him, "Won it in a card game." He knew better than to lie.

"Whose apple was it?"

The brown-haired boy looked around, "His," he said, indicating the man sat across the room, sipping on his beer.

The girl to the right of him picked up the apple, but Jaemin snatched it back instantly before standing up. The two teenagers glared at him as he walked away to sit down beside the man he played cards against.

"Everyone shut _up!_ Quieten _down!"_ the leader yelled above the talkative group of people. Suddenly, there was a whistle sound.

Everybody immediately stopped talking, then one of the men in the crowd said, "Oi! Stop using that fucking whistle, do you _want_ walkers to know we're here?"

The leader stared at him, "Then stop fucking _talking_ when I get your _attention!"_

Jaemin watched the exchange as the whole place fell silent. The insides of his apple slowly went brown as he continued to leave it out in the air.

"Right. Now, everyone, I've been talking to my right hand woman here and we've decided that we need to move out."

Groans and mumbling could be heard throughout the room as Jaemin stared almost blankly at the leader.

"Why?" the man beside him drunkenly asked, "That's like the fourth time we've moved this month!"

The woman turned to view the drinking man, who was chugging his beer like his life depended on it. Beside him she saw Jaemin, who was the youngest of the group. They regarded one another with a similar cold expression before she addressed the man again, _"Because,_ it continues to not be safe for us." She turned to address the group. "You know how this works: _we move to a new place once it becomes dangerous."_ The entire team chanted the last part of the sentence together like it was a mantra. "Exactly. I want to hear no further questions on it. We leave in one hour."

\--

Jaemin put his backpack on and ran a hand through his hair. His apple long since discarded, he started biting his nails as a way to keep himself busy.

"You won't have any nails left if you keep on doing that," spoke a voice from behind him. Jaemin spun round, startled, and saw the same man from earlier. Out of the blue, he opened the younger boy's backpack and put something in it.

"What did you--?"

"Cigarettes. A box of them. You might need them."

Jaemin huffed. He only had a pocket knife, two bottles of beer, a half empty bottle of water, no food, and now cigarettes. The _last_ thing he needed.

"Oh, and you'll need this." Another small object went into the backpack. "A lighter. Take good care of it, it's my favourite one." Jaemin rolled his eyes before turning his head to look at the older man, who smiled at him.

"Do I really _need_ cigarettes?"

The man shrugged, "I said, you _might_ need them."

Jaemin could almost feel his eyes go into the back of his head as he moved away from the older male.

A little while later, he was at the back of a group of people, cautiously leaving the underground base and going out into the open.

Low growls could be heard in the distance as Jaemin stuck to the tail end of the line of people that quickly formed. In front of him was the man he played cards with. Every so often, he looked back to check if Jaemin was still there, to the point where the younger boy whispered, "I'll just grab hold of the material on your jacket, that way you'll know I'm still here."

Every few minutes, they would need to stop for a rest or kill the walkers that would get too close. Jaemin had his pocket knife ready if he needed it, but for the most part, the members of the group at the front of the line took over.

Night time came creeping in as orange slowly became a deep navy blue. The warm summer air quickly grew mild as Jaemin clung to the back of the man's jacket.

Suddenly, he saw everyone in front of him move to hide behind a fence; he followed along and knelt down beside the group.

"Okay, everyone, listen up," the leader began in a hushed voice, "there's a whole swarm of them coming our way." She looked to her left. A few metres away, there were a couple of corpses that had probably been there for hours, maybe days. "We're gonna cover ourselves in those walker guts and move slowly through them, and I _mean_ slowly."

The group nodded in unison before they all moved over to the two bodies. They cut the walkers open and began smearing themselves with their blood; it was said to be an effective way to move through a mass of walkers.

Once they were done, they moved back to the edge of the fence. Jaemin once again stayed at the tail end.

They were next to an open road and at one end of a large forest. The swarm was fast-moving.

"Okay guys, let's go."

Everyone started to rise like walkers would and move away from the fence gradually in small groups.

Jaemin was the last person to step out, and he tried following the older man, but he moved a bit too quickly.

Jaemin suddenly discovered that he couldn't see them.

It was too dark and if he made any sudden movements, he would be a walker's next meal. He also couldn't shout for them, again, because he would be found out.

He gulped, and found that he had no choice but to keep on moving in the hopes he would be reunited with them.

By the time he got to the other end of the swarm, he _still_ couldn't find them.

Ahead of him, he heard distant sounds of leaves crunching underneath feet, and tried to trace it, but realised it was too far away and too spaced out for him to get a concrete idea of where his group were.

Jaemin wondered why the man he played cards with didn't stop everyone when he realised he wasn't there.

Suddenly, he halted. He thought he was going to cry, but he wiped his eyes and pulled himself together.

_'Just keep moving, Jaemin, you'll find them.'_

Jaemin began hurrying through the woods, jogging at a faster speed, taking cover behind a tree every so often and impaling any walker that would pass him.

He reached the end of the forest, and once he stepped out, he saw the outline of a house.

Jaemin narrowed his eyes, making sure what he was seeing was truly there. He moved closer towards it, _'They're probably in there.'_

A sudden wave of optimism washed over him as he ran up to the house and knocked on the door.

But the person who opened it was a complete stranger.

Standing in front of him was a tall, quite built male who had brown hair, laced with a bit of blonde.

"Who are you? Is-- Is there a woman here?" Jaemin stuttered.

"What? No women here mate. Although we _did_ see a large group of people pass by here but I think we intimidated them enough for them to piss off." The stranger saw Jaemin's face fall. "Why, are you looking for them?"

At that moment, the clouds had come over, and rain began to pour.

Jaemin put his head in his hands before he kicked the wall on the left side of the doorway and shouted, _"Shit!"_

Upon hearing that sound, a few other males came to the door to see what the problem was.

The downpour was getting heavier by the second, and one man stepped forward and said, "Lucas, who's this?"

"I don't know, a guy who's probably looking for that group who passed by earlier." The man referred to as Lucas stood to the side as the dark-haired male walked towards Jaemin.

"God, you're gonna get cold and wet and possibly die if you stay out here. Come in," he pulled Jaemin in before the brown-haired boy could protest.

Then, a redhead stepped out. He observed the scene as Lucas shut the door and said, "For fuck's _sake_ Kun, how long is this gonna go on for?"

"We can't just turn these people away when they find the house, I mean, you said it yourself, they found it fair and square."

"Yeah, I said that _before_ Taeil _snapped_ when Mark arrived."

"Uhh, could you two keep it down? Taeil is probably on the very tip of the edge right now and I don't think any of us really want a repeat of that moment he snapped when Mark came, thank _you,"_ a shorter male with black hair said before disappearing into the living room.

"Listen, Taeyong, it's night time, it's raining, it's getting colder, he will most likely die if he tries to find this group Lucas was talking about."

Jaemin stared at the redhead, who glared back at him. "He's probably old enough to fend for himself."

The man known as Kun turned to Jaemin, "How old are you?"

The young boy gazed at the many faces staring at him before turning his attention back to Kun, "Eighteen."

He watched as Taeyong rubbed his face and the other men looked towards the floor awkwardly.

A taller man standing behind Taeyong piped up, "Great…! Fucking excellent! _Another_ teenager!"

"Shut _up,_ Johnny," the redhead said through gritted teeth.

"Well, good luck persuading Kun to kick an eighteen-year-old back out into the wild," the man named Johnny replied.

Taeyong's eyes turned to Kun, who glared back at him. Jaemin was incredibly confused and he looked for an answer in one of the other men.

"I'm sorry, I'm not letting an eighteen-year-old back out there. Final."

Taeyong sighed, defeated and annoyed. "Fine. _You_ can explain to Taeil when he comes downstairs why we suddenly have eight teenagers, because I give up," he declared, before pushing past a silent group of men and going back into the other room.

Kun put an arm around Jaemin, "We'll keep you safe here. Go in there and introduce yourself. I'll be right behind you."

Jaemin felt like the last twenty minutes of his life were a blur. Out of nowhere, he had become separated from his last group, and had unintentionally joined another.

Once he introduced himself to everyone, he went and sat by the people who were close to his age. Strangely, he found them more welcoming, and less hostile than the teenagers from his last group.

He pulled his knees close to his chest again. A part of him wished he had found _his_ group.

The other part was glad that he found _this_ group.


	20. Part 1 | YangYang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/53ea7482a0d66ff7d3f7e2d1e66190f9/c463aa70b30f0621-04/s1280x1920/da8c13e79db8f233f0e87730358383cea8441116.pnj)

_ "I stayed at a friend’s house one weekend, and I left in the evening on Sunday. It was dark out, and I was walking home when I came face to face with one. I tried turning back to go the other way but another one came, and suddenly I was surrounded by them. I thought I was gonna die at that point, until someone fought through the walkers and pulled me away from them into a random house. _

_ It was a man, probably in his 40s, who saved me, but I told him that I had a home to go back to. I was scared, I didn’t want to stay with a complete stranger, but he put the idea in my mind that my parents were already dead and that if I went home, it would be destroyed. He told me the outbreak had been around for a few days at that point, and that the walkers would have gotten to them already. _

_ He tried teaching me how to use weapons and how to survive but I was so terrified at the time that I didn't wanna learn. We left where we were staying after a few months and travelled a few miles away. The past few months of my life have been such a blur, I can't remember anything, except I never learned how to survive or use weapons. _

_ The day I found this house we were both walking through that forest over there, when he got caught by a walker. I tried helping him but the walker was too fast. You know what happened after that…" _

\--

YangYang leaned with his back against a tree as he watched the old man opposite him put out the campfire they had been sitting at for a while. He observed the man with an emotionless expression as he silently asked himself why he stayed with him for so long.

Defenseless, unprepared and unlike himself, he huffed and put his hands in his jacket pockets. The man in front of him finished putting out the fire before he stood up and brought a bottle of vodka up to his lips. He held it out to YangYang, the younger male wincing and shaking his head in rejection. The grey-haired male shrugged and took another drink of the liquid before saying, "Come on, boy, we gotta go."

YangYang groaned loudly, "Do we have to? We were doing pretty fine here."

The male opposite raised an eyebrow, "You  _ really  _ think we were gonna survive out here?" He choked out a sarcastic laugh before ruffling YangYang's hair, startling him in the process. "You are funny, YangYang."

The man passed him to take a look into the forest they were on the outskirts of.

"If we keep walking through here and not stop, we should be able to make it over halfway through the forest before we'll need to set up camp for the night. We may have to climb a tree and sleep in it, who knows?"

The younger male shook his head as his eyes found the floor; he kicked his feet along the grass below him. The sky was now a deep blue and the clouds had come over.

The older male looked up, "That's another reason why we gotta move, YangYang. Looks like it's gonna rain pretty soon."

YangYang followed his eyes and glanced up at the sky. There wasn't much light out since the campfire was put out, apart from an odd nearby lamppost that still worked somehow, so he took out his torch and shone it at the ground, before the grey-haired man told him to be careful with it.

"Right, you ready to move?"

YangYang made sure that his bag was definitely still on him, and he quickly opened it and directed the light at the contents before shutting it again and nodding at the older male.

"Okay, let's go."

They began their journey through the forest, stopping whenever a stray walker came to attack them. YangYang wanted to step in and help, but was never faster than the grey-haired male who took them out in seconds.

A few miles in, they heard distant footsteps and people talking among themselves. They instantly went to stand behind a tree, and as the group passed, the two males could hear loud shouting, making them realise the group was  _ much  _ closer than they originally thought.

"I don't think it was  _ fair  _ for us to just leave him! God knows where he could be right now!" a male voice spoke.

"He probably went to that house over there and they probably took him in, don't worry about him," a female voice said.

As they continued arguing, the older male whispered to YangYang, "Why the  _ fuck _ are they yelling so loud? Do they  _ want  _ to die out here?"

The younger male brought his shoulders up to his ears, equally as puzzled, as they both witnessed the group of people move away and their voices become more distant.

At that moment, it started to rain.

It was quite heavy, and the grey-haired male said, "Jesus,  _ fuck!  _ Right, let's keep moving."

They began to jog a little faster for a few hundred yards, when out of nowhere, a walker came out from behind a tree and grabbed the older male by the shoulders.

YangYang noticed and stood back, paralysed with fear as the walker sank his teeth into the older males neck. He watched his eyes go into the back of his head briefly and he tried to find something to help, but the older male blurted something out that made chills run up YangYang's spine.

_ "Go... _ run... _ don't  _ wait up for  _ m-me…" _

YangYang nearly puked as blood spurted out from the wound created and he sprinted away, looking back every so often.

Walkers emerged from every angle as he continued running, his stamina quickly running out. He stopped to take a breather for only a few seconds, a pain in his right side, before moving again, trying to push through the pain.

He saw an opening to the end of the forest as the rain carried on pouring through the tree and down onto his hair and clothes. The mud was becoming more slippery, dozens of walkers on his tail, and as he reached the end, he slipped in the mud and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his leg.

Once he had time to look at it, he noticed a large cut down the side of his leg where his calf was. He didn't know  _ what  _ he cut his leg on until he looked and saw a huge sharp branch sticking out from the ground, the top part coated in red.

_ "Holy shit!"  _ he screamed. Blood started pouring out of the cut, the maroon liquid covering his calf, causing him to cry out in pain. Glancing up, he noticed walkers were coming closer.

YangYang tried pushing himself away, but every push made the cut hurt more, and tears mixed with the rain as he felt saltiness on his lips.

_ "Someone help! Please, anyone!" _

His cheeks were red and puffy as he cried, grabbing the calf every so often to try and stop the blood flow, only managing to cover his hands in the red liquid.

_ "Jesus fucking Christ!" _

At that point, he looked back and saw the house in the distance; slowly, he saw people emerge from the house, and he  _ shrieked. _

_ "Help!  _ My  _ leg's  _ been...oh  _ fuck!" _

YangYang continued to push himself away, but didn't get very far before he heard the sound of running behind him and a few male figures appear at his side.

"Holy fuck…" one of them said, staring at the wound.

Another male looked at the walkers approaching and said, "Get him back to the house!"

YangYang thought he was about to pass out when he was suddenly picked up off the wet ground and rushed back to the house.

As he was carried into the house, other men came to see what was going on. When they saw YangYang's leg, their mouths gaped open.

"Everyone move!" the man carrying YangYang said to everyone in the living room. They all did as instructed as the young boy was placed on the sofa. "Jesus…" he whispered as he stared at the cut. "Get me the stitches, I also need some water!"

A sudden sense of urgency filled the house as YangYang tried to remain conscious. He heard distant voices telling him to stay with them until the pain was too much to the point that he passed out.

A little while later, YangYang slowly opened his eyes to people standing around him. He heard murmurs, and immediately became so much more awake when he looked at his leg and noticed it was cleaned up and stitched up.

Shaking his head, he looked to his right and saw a hand offering him a glass of water.

"Don't worry, we've been checking all over the house, these are clean. And Jeno over there remembered where he found water and left with Doyoung to go and get it, thankfully it was still there."

The voice was still a little distant as YangYang still tried to figure out his surroundings. He took the glass and drank a little, the man who offered it to him taking a seat on the tiny space beside his legs.

"I'm Kun. You had a pretty nasty accident out there. We thought we lost you."

YangYang stared at Kun through glazed eyes and swallowed thickly, before quietly thanking him and everyone in the room for saving his life.

"No worries, kid. How did it even happen?" a new voice asked him. When he came into view, he had brunette hair and was standing behind Kun.

"It wasn't a walker, he would have turned by now…"

YangYang used all of his remaining energy to say, "I was...running from walkers...and I caught my leg..o-on the top of a sharp branch." Stray tears were still clinging to his cheeks. Behind him, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

Everyone turned to view the person who was on the stairs, before the voice spoke, "What's happened?" His voice seemed nonchalant, exhausted.

"We've got a wounded one here, Taeil, there's a cut in his leg. He wasn't bitten but he's certainly too weak to go back out there."

YangYang could barely keep focus as he noticed Kun give him a weak but reassuring smile.

"Right…" the man named Taeil said, before he groaned.

There was a short pause, "Are you willing to come down and meet the new people now?"

Another pause. "I said I'd make that decision for myself. Make sure he rests well."

The young wounded boy closed his eyes as he heard Taeil go back up the stairs and sighs from all around him.

A hand was placed on his shoulder by the redhead who was just talking, "He can't hide up there forever." The sentence was more so directed at the men in front of him than at YangYang.

Kun exhaled, "We know...we know."

"But, Taeil's right. We need to make sure he rests," a tall blue-haired man spoke, everyone around agreeing.

YangYang didn't need any more convincing, before he carefully moved to lie down on the sofa properly, the men around him making sure he was okay.

"You'll be alright, um…"

The younger boy noticed they were asking for his name. He coughed, "YangYang." His voice was feeble and he grimaced every time he felt the pain in his leg.

"YangYang. You'll be okay. Now get some sleep. I'm Taeyong, by the way."

The young boy felt fresh tears fall down his cheeks as he closed his eyes, so bewildered at the hospitality of a relatively large group of strangers.

For some reason, he felt  _ safer  _ here than he ever did with the man who took care of him for six months.

YangYang was confused about the whole situation, but decided not to dwell on it too much as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.


	21. Part 1 | Chenle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/a26c369ec3e01afe49220be1cbfb3f35/7a031c6c83a73dce-69/s640x960/5e428aff39af2413978e2c2d4e5c9309b5c996b2.png)

_"It was just another normal day at school; I went to my classes, hung out with my friends, played sports in the morning. Just any other regular day. And then after lunch, during science class, I looked out the window and saw something come onto our school grounds. I knew right away something was wrong. I went to alert the teacher, but that's when we heard a gunshot._

_We all ran to the window and saw what had been shot, that's when we also heard someone run upstairs and through the corridor, screaming about zombies. The fire alarm went off but were told to not go outside, and that it was to alert us to go to the main hall. They tried contacting our parents as fast as possible to tell them that they were keeping us at the school for our own safety, and then that’s when the news broke out._

_We stayed there for a few months, and we were told not to leave, and that it was too dangerous out there. A few days before I found this house a large swarm of them came to the building and managed to break in. I fled all by myself. I didn’t have any weapons, very little water, and no food. I stopped and stole from an abandoned shop just to survive, and they didn’t have much. It felt horrible, and I was all alone for three nights. I was seriously lucky. Then on the fourth night, just as it started raining, I found this house."_

\--

Chenle woke up from his nap at the top of the tallest tree he could find to see walkers nearby. He glanced around to try and find an exit before grabbing his bag and putting it on. Nervously, he placed a hand above his eyes to test how far into the distance he could see before eyeing the ground below him.

Restless, unnerved and cautious, he pushed himself along the branch, his bag on his back, and trembled as he waited for the right moment to drop down to the branch below him.

As he placed his foot down carefully, thoughts immediately raced through his mind, one of them being how he had managed to survive. With no weapons, he lived on hiding behind trees, walls, and sometimes underground. Shaking his head, he began moving his second foot, and nearly slipped, yet caught onto the branch above him and clung on for dear life as he slowly moved from one branch to the other and climbed down onto the ground.

Around him, he tried to look for anything that could be a viable weapon; he opted for a large twig that didn't easily snap, and carried enough weight that it would cause damage on impact. Biting the inside of his cheek, he hoped that it was enough to at least kill _some_ walkers.

He carried it like a batter in baseball on his left side and tip-toed through the woods. Running a hand through his lilac hair, he gazed around for any sign of nearby walkers, before he came across one standing right in front of him. He backed away, gulping, before lifting the branch and hitting it in the torso. The walker fell back slightly, before Chenle dropped the branch and sprinted past him.

Suddenly, he stopped. Crouching down behind some tall shrubs, he heard distant voices but couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Chenle made out a male voice, followed by a female voice, before they got quieter. He took a deep breath and began walking in the opposite direction to the strangers.

Nightfall was fast approaching as Chenle took off his backpack and brought out his torch; shutting the bag and putting it back on, he turned it on, hitting it a few times to make sure it still worked properly. It wasn't the brightest, but it helped Chenle see a few metres in front of him.

The forest was large, and the trees were high, making the young boy look above him every so often to see the night sky through the leaves. The temperature had dropped a little bit over the course of the evening, and now that the moon was quite high, Chenle was criticising himself for falling asleep in the afternoon, knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep for a while; he reckoned it was nearing midnight.

As he was carefully making his way through, avoiding walkers whenever he could, he started to feel the first few raindrops.

_'Damn it...crap.'_

It was picking up speed, and growing heavier by the second. Chenle was convinced he wouldn't last much longer out in the forest by himself, or anywhere for that matter.

After a few more seconds of walking, he heard a piercing scream and loud shouting that made him stop dead in his tracks and hide once again. He was nearer the source of the noise this time, and it was frightening.

To his left, he saw a horde of walkers approaching the edge of the forest, and that's when he could hear the person's words.

_"Holy shit!"_

Chenle was surprised at how near he was, but he feared going any nearer. His skin crawled as the screams got louder.

_"Someone help! Please, anyone!"_

The young boy felt powerless as he began to see the person who was crying out. Chenle wished that he had a single bone in his body that _wasn't_ terrified at that moment.

_'You've survived for three nights on your own, come on, you can do this!'_

_"Jesus fucking Christ!"_ screamed the young man's voice, and the lilac-haired boy was about to step out, when a group of men came running towards the forest, and the young man let out a deafening shriek. _"Help!_ My _leg's_ been...oh _fuck!"_

One of them picked him up, another man shouting, "Get him back to the house!" Said man carried him to another location while the rest of the group dealt with the walkers.

Chenle decided to get a better look at where they were taking him. He reached the edge of the forest as growls and shouts could be heard behind him, and saw a fairly big house in the distance.

The man carrying the wounded person ran up to the house and went inside. Chenle blinked.

He didn't quite know what to do.

At that moment, he heard one of the men shout, "Right, is that all of them? Come on! Let's get back to the house before more of those fuckers show up!"

Chenle decided he had no other choice but to make himself known. If they had shelter, _surely_ they could allow him to stay too.

He felt incredibly optimistic. His pulse raced as he stepped out of the forest, but found he was still too scared to call out to them.

One of them spotted him though.

They shared eye contact for a brief few seconds before the stranger was being pulled back to the house. Chenle swallowed a sudden lump in his throat.

_'Of course. They've got their own group. They probably already knew him or something. I shouldn't have got my hopes up.'_

The lilac-haired boy's eyes found the dark clouds above him as the rain continued to beat down, his torch having since been turned off. He bit his bottom lip and shook his head before eyeing the ground. He stuffed one hand into his hoodie pocket and put his torch onto the wet grass; kicking it around, he huffed, and continued using the torch as a football as the rain fell.

Aimlessly he strolled across the field, his feet constantly hitting the torch, one after the other. He briefly looked up at the house and bit the inside of his cheek in thought. Chenle wondered if the man who saw him would come back out to find him, but he eventually came to the conclusion that they wouldn't bother, as he picked up his torch and turned to walk away.

Before he could reach the edge of the open road, he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey! You on your own out here?"

Chenle halted. He stared off into the distance before turning his head to see a tall man standing a few metres away from him. He switched his torch on and pointed it at the ground, giving the stranger enough time to protect his eyes so Chenle could properly see who he was.

Once he was satisfied, he switched off the torch and said, "You must be the person I saw earlier."

"That would be me, you were standing just over there, right?" the man responded, indicating the edge of the forest behind him.

"Yeah...I was gonna help him out! But I was too scared to."

"No worries, we've got him anyway. Um," the taller man took a pause, "you didn't answer my question earlier."

Chenle cowered away a little, "Uhh, yeah… I _am_ on my own, I guess you could say…" The stranger took a step forward. There was a look in his eyes that said he could tell Chenle was quite a bit younger than him.

"How old are you? You seem really young to be out here by yourself."

The lilac-haired boy bit his bottom lip, "S-Seventeen."

The taller man raised his eyebrows in shock. "Seventeen? _Seventeen?_ What the _fuck_ are you doing out here?"

They paid no mind to the rain that was continuously falling as Chenle responded, "I had to leave my school a few days ago. We were taken over and I had no choice but to go by myself. I still don't know how I managed to survive."

The stranger folded his arms before he held one out and said, "My name's Johnny."

The young boy took his hand, "Ch-Chenle."

Not letting go of his hand, Johnny pulled Chenle along to his left side and wrapped an arm around his shoulder as he explained, "You're the youngest here, and there's someone here who's serious about protecting others. Kun." He finished his small speech with a tiny tut. "I can't blame him though. It's too dangerous for anyone to be out here."

Chenle listened to his words closely as they approached the house and ascended the staircase. Inside, the two of them could hear a conversation taking place. The younger boy glanced up at Johnny and he returned the stare, rolling his eyes slightly as they entered the house together. Chenle heard multiple male voices as they stood just inside the front door. His hair, clothes and shoes were soaking wet, he was tired, and he wanted nothing more than to sleep, despite the nap he had earlier on.

"We just brought YangYang in, do you really think we can bring in another?"

"I don't know, but if someone else shows up, you know it'll be hard for _some_ people to make them stay out there."

"Look, I'm sorry if I don't want to leave someone roaming around in the middle of a fucking apocalypse!"

"But did you see the way Taeil acted earlier? He looks like he's gonna have a full on breakdown."

Groans could be heard in the living room as Johnny mouthed to Chenle, _wait here,_ before stepping into the archway of the living room.

"Guys, _guys."_

"Where the fuck have _you_ been? We wondered where you went."

Chenle stayed with his back to the wall, heart suddenly beating faster as he heard Johnny talk to the new voice.

"Jaehyun, listen--"

"Listen, what--" The man known as Jaehyun saw the younger out of the corner of his right eye. "Holy fuck, _Johnny!"_ Jaehyun suddenly said as he turned back to face the taller man.

"He's _seventeen."_

Silence fell over the whole house as Jaehyun turned around. A few seconds later, a new person stepped into the hallway. Chenle backed away.

"This is Kun, by the way," Johnny said.

Chenle nodded at both Johnny and Kun as he stared at the floor.

"This is _twenty_ now, Kun. _Twenty."_

Kun turned his head to face Jaehyun and glared at him, "You think I'm gonna let a seventeen-year-old go back out there at _this_ time of night? Where's your morals?"

Chenle began to feel extremely small as they continued to argue in front of him. Out of nowhere, he saw a head appear from around the corner, and a hand beckoning him to follow. The lilac-haired boy was unsure of whether he should, but then the brown-haired boy held out an arm and nodded, silently saying it was okay for him to go into the living room.

Chenle followed him as more of the strangers took part in the argument. He sat down among a group of males as the one who led him into the living room said, "I'm Jaemin."

"Chenle," the younger boy replied. The boys around him introduced themselves.

"Listen, Taeyong," Kun continued, turning to the redhead, "at this point, Taeil's opinion isn't the only one that matters here."

The redhead in question folded his arms, "You _really_ wanna test him like that?"

 _"You two,_ keep your voices down, YangYang's still asleep."

"And how long ago did we let _him_ into our house?"

The conversation seemed to last for hours. Chenle looked back and forth between everyone talking in low voices before he felt someone prod his shoulder. Turning around, he came face to face with Renjun, "Tell them your name."

The young boy briefly looked towards the floor in front of him and clicked his tongue before standing up. Everyone's eyes turned to him.

"I'm Chenle, if my name didn't already get thrown around in your argument."

Everyone exchanged looks before they gazed at Chenle again, then at the pleading faces behind him telling them all to let him stay.

The redhead exhaled, "He ain't gonna like this, but it's almost midnight." He glanced to his right to see Kun stare with narrow eyes before turning back to Chenle. "Welcome, Chenle. I'm Taeyong."

The young boy gulped before biting his lip. He thought he was nearly going to cry, but he wiped his eyes before any tears could fall.

The boy on the sofa with the stitched up wound moved around in his sleep but didn't wake up, despite the amount of talking.

Everyone settled down, and it was soon after that that the boy named YangYang woke up. Chenle went to greet him and they spoke about what had happened, the younger boy apologising to the wounded male for not stepping up and helping.

"It's okay, really," he strained to say, "what were you supposed to do? You don't have much on you and you wouldn't have been able to help me by yourself. I'm kind of glad you're here though. Thankfully they didn't leave you out there either."

Chenle let out a weak chuckle before twiddling his thumbs. He felt a hand rest on his shoulder and looked up to see Johnny, who whispered, "I'm sorry for all of this." The quiet boy brushed it aside and tugged at the inside of his lip.

Things were quiet for a while. The chaos had died down. All twenty of them thought this was it, especially those who had arrived earlier in the day.

Taeil was nearly prepared to come down to see the damage after a few hours of being upstairs. Then something awakened all of them.

 _"Help!_ Somebody _help!"_

Taeyong shut his eyes and sighed as he looked up at the ceiling.

_'I swear, Taeil. This is the last one.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry it's been a while since the last chapter! so much has taken up my time that i just never got round to updating this, but it's here! part one is nearly done guys, how crazy is that; i will go on a little break after jisung's chapter to plan part 2 properly, but i'm not giving up!  
> \- lrb ✌️


	22. Part 1 | Jisung

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [moodboard](https://66.media.tumblr.com/07ef9c9c93f7e04a54e2f602a4046d80/653b6b71661efefb-00/s540x810/d04ef08d12efd7528860729b98db14e9fa8818e9.png)

_"It was just me, my parents, and my brother for the months before I found this house. We managed to stay together the entire time, I still don't know how. They protected us, made sure we didn't go anywhere without them. They never allowed me to use any weapon, said I was too young. I wish I was allowed..._

_On our final day together, we all decided to go out to find new shelter. We hadn't done that in a while, and we usually went out during the day, but they thought on that one particular night it would be okay for some reason._

_We were okay for the most part. Things were fine. We kept ourselves safe and my parents and brother killed any walkers that needed to be killed, but we knew it was getting late._

_It was on our way back that my parents were killed out of nowhere._

_It wasn't even by a gunshot. It was with a knife, in the chest, while they were less than five metres away from them. I turned around and saw them fall to the floor and I called out, "Mum! Dad!"_

_They grabbed my brother, who was near the two of them, and he shouted at me to run. Thankfully, I'm a fast runner._

_I'm grateful they didn't have any guns on them, and that they couldn't shoot me from far away, or I wouldn't be alive right now._

_The moon was rising and I knew it was getting closer to midnight; it even started raining, but I kept on running. As fast as I could._

_I called out for help along the way but no one heard me, until I found this house."_

\--

Jisung laid on his side, eyes shut as he pretended to sleep while he secretly listened in to the words of his parents. They were talking about going out again towards the end of the day.

_‘It’s been a long time since we’ve done that.’_

Apprehensive, discouraged, yet curious, he tried to keep his eyes closed in an attempt to prevent his parents from knowing he was actually awake.

“When are we going to teach him how to fight?” he heard his father say. Without even thinking, Jisung knew they were talking about him.

"I'm not ready to teach him yet," his mother responded, waving a hand to brush off the conversation quicker than it began. "He's too young. It's too dangerous for him."

"He's gonna need to know how to fight at some point! We _can't_ go on like this!"

Jisung shifted around in his "sleep", cutting off his parents argument and making his father reduce his voice to a whisper.

"We almost lost him once, I can't _bear_ to be in that situation again."

Jisung heard every word as he gulped. Slowly, he moved to lie on his back and heard his mother say, "I can't risk it. Not anymore. Not when we've come this far. I can't do it…" Her voice faltered as she choked up. Jisung's father pulled her into a hug as the young bright blue-haired boy let his eyes open briefly.

His mind was stuck. He wanted to learn how to protect himself, but he knew his mother would always be protective of him.

_'Caught in the middle. Exactly where I don't want to be.'_

\--

Some hours later, Jisung sat beside his older brother and watched him take a drink from his bottle of beer. He offered some to the younger boy, but he shook his head. Shrugging, the older boy continued before their mother passed and swiped it out of his hand.

"I don't want you drinking this shit, how many times have I told you?" their mother said sternly. She had always disapproved of them drinking, saying it wasn't good for them, and that they needed to be sober. Jisung had never touched alcohol.

The older of the two boys eyed the floor. He knew he shouldn't drink, but it was the only other thing they had. Resources running low meant little water to go around.

Explaining this to his mother, the older boy glanced up at her. She stared down at the beer bottle and sighed before sitting down beside him. 

"I know...we don't have much. I'm sorry…" An apology was all she could manage before her eldest son wrapped an arm around her. Jisung stood up and came to sit on her left, mirroring his brother's actions.

They could both hear sniffing as she began to cry. Wiping her eyes, their mother gazed up at the cloudless blue sky above her, distressed.

"I promise you two that we'll all make it out of here. The four of us," she assured, looking back and forth between them.

Cracking his knuckles with one hand, Jisung looked off into the distance.

_'We'll make it out of here.'_

A desperate thought; he wanted it to be true.

\--

"Come on, you two! Hurry up!" shouted Jisung's father as he and his brother trailed behind their parents. Repeatedly, he hit the ground with a stick he picked up until his brother got so annoyed he told the blue-haired boy to stop. Jisung threw the stick into the open road they began to walk down and looked forward; noticing his parents had stopped, he jogged towards them and turned back, urging his brother to hurry.

They stayed close together as they strolled down the open road. Night time was fast approaching, and Jisung considered asking them to stop and set up camp nearby, when he was stopped and told to stay quiet.

His mother pulled him towards a tree as his father pulled his brother and said, "Stay down!" in a loud whisper.

Suddenly, he found himself breathing heavily, fearing what his parents could have seen, the possibilities being finite, yet all terrifying.

Shaking his head of his thoughts to prevent himself from dwelling on them, he stayed behind his parents while he heard distant voices, shouting and low growling noises coming from walkers. The sounds combined and made his blood run cold.

They waited there for what felt like hours before they started moving again. After a few minutes, they came to a halt.

"We're gonna walk along this road until we reach the other end," Jisung's father explained, his wife beside him agreeing.

Jisung gazed into the distance, seeing nothing but the long road ahead of him, tall trees covered in leaves of different shades of green and brown for miles, the forests either side of the road harbouring nothing but the unknown. It felt like an empty black hole.

He and his brother exchanged looks. Their eyes seemed to say the same thing.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" the older of the two boys asked. "It's getting late, and it's getting colder, and we don't have much on us."

The blue-haired boy sighed, shook his head and stared at the cracked road beneath his feet, wondering why they thought this was such a good plan.

"If we stay close together, we will make it to the other end unscathed. We have enough on us, we packed as much as we could from our last place…" his mother began to say.

"Why didn't we travel during the day?" Jisung questioned, genuinely curious and a little perplexed.

His mother huffed, looking to her husband to take over.

"Because there's less chance for us to be seen. But we need to stay on the edge of the forest. Going into the forest could be dangerous, but staying completely exposed could be _more_ dangerous."

Ruffling his hair, Jisung kicked a stray piece of tarmac along the edge of the road as they began their journey, passing it to his brother so he could kick it back. They kept the rally going so that they didn't get bored, until their parents turned around and asked them to stop, saying that the noise could bring more attention to them.

The open road appeared to be never ending, as every few dozen yards seemed to reveal a few dozen miles more.

Above them, the moon was rising higher, and the young boy could see a few clouds covering it up slightly.

His legs were growing weaker, and he was prepared to fall asleep there and then, when he was dragged once more to a nearby tree and urged to stay silent.

By that point, it had already started raining. They didn't know how far they had walked, but they knew they were close enough to people when they heard shouting from afar.

Distant shrieks of desperation filled their ears as they heard someone call out for help. They couldn't quite see who it was, but they knew where it was coming from.

"Maybe we should go and help!" Jisung suggested. His father shushed him as they continued to listen, and a couple of minutes later, they heard more voices. Gunshots soon followed.

"Holy _shit…"_ Jisung's mother muttered under her breath.

"You think they killed walkers?" the eldest son asked.

"I do hope it was walkers," she answered honestly.

"We have to go into the forest," Jisung's father commented out of the blue. The young boy regarded him with shock.

"What? I thought you said it was dangerous!"

"We don't know who could be over there! Come on, into the forest."

There wasn't much time to argue before they all entered the forest on the dark-haired man's tail. He shone his torch at the ground before passing it to Jisung, his mother doing the same yet handing her torch to his brother.

"Stay in front of us," their mother ordered before they complied, both of them shivering from the slight chill in the air coupled with the newfound fear they were experiencing.

They were only a few metres into the forest. Jisung had only taken a few more steps forward. Only a few more seconds had passed. Only a few more…

Two screams that Jisung heard behind him, one after the other, made him turn around and see his own parents, on their knees, with knives in their chests, blood spilling out and down their torsos.

His older brother dropped his torch.

 _"Mum! Dad!"_ Jisung shrieked.

Out of nowhere, a figure grabbed Jisung's brother out of nowhere and wrapped an arm around his throat, locking him in place.

It wasn't long before their parents were face first on the floor, dead.

And it wouldn't be long before the eldest son joined them.

"J-Jisung!" The blue-haired boy's head snapped to face his older brother, tears in his eyes, shock present on his face at an unbelievable level. "R-Run!" he managed to choke out, his breath leaving him, his lungs giving out as the figure wrapped the arm tighter around the boy's neck.

Having no other choice, he spun on his heels and darted away from the scene just as another figure was about to jump out and seize him, the tips of the threat's fingers grazing his skin as he sprinted past.

_'What if they have guns? What if they have guns? What if they have guns?'_

The question repeated itself in his head multiple times. He found he had no time to rationalise such a thought as his main focus was escaping their grasp and in turn, escaping death.

In next to no time at all, he found himself on the edge of the road again, the people following him still not too far behind. He was thankful that he was a fast runner, and that the stamina he thought he had lost came rushing back in the form of terror-filled adrenaline.

Tears still fell down his face as the image of his parents, knives in their chests, falling to their knees before succumbing to their wounds flashed in his mind multiple times, frame by frame. He also saw his brother in the chokehold, struggling to speak as he shouted at Jisung to run.

And the young boy didn't stop.

They hadn't fired any bullets.

He had to try something.

 _"Help!_ Somebody _help!"_

The shouting seemed futile, but he had to try. He called out again.

_"Help! Please! Anybody!"_

The people behind him were still following, and either side of him he suddenly saw knives being thrown.

Within a few yards, he saw a house.

"Anybody in there?" he screamed. _"Help!"_

Suddenly, a few people exited the house, weapons in hand, and they ran down the stairs.

With no hesitation, the dark blue-haired man to the right of Jisung lifted his gun and shot one of the people approaching. The redhead did the same to the second person, before taking out the third and final figure.

Jisung didn't stop until he was inside the house.

As soon as he entered, he collapsed to the floor, trying as hard as he could to catch his breath as he continued to cry. Multiple people came into the hallway to see the young blue-haired boy curled up in the corner, knees drawn close to his chest as it heaved.

"Doyoung? Taeyong?" one male voice called out as the two men in question re-entered the house.

The redhead looked down at Jisung.

"Are you okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned before crouching down beside him.

The young boy sniffed a couple of times before gazing at the people who surrounded him.

"Why were they chasing you?" the taller blue-haired man asked.

Jisung's words got caught in his throat. Someone else noticed this and spoke up, "Leave him be for a minute. He looks petrified."

"No kidding, three of them were chasing after him."

"Th-They weren't w-walkers…"

Everyone turned to look at Jisung, who had finally spoken.

"They weren't?" the redhead asked, standing up. The young boy shook his head vigorously. "Jesus Christ…"

"What did they want?" the same voice who called out the two names earlier inquired.

Jisung shrugged, tears still falling, "I...I don't know… They killed my family!" He rested his forehead on his knees and hugged himself even tighter. One male knelt down in front of him.

"What's your name?"

The boy lifted his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone on the stairs.

The man on the stairs seemed to do nothing but stare at the blue-haired boy sat on the floor. He took a seat on one of the stairs before his eyes moved to the redhead. He then looked down.

"J-Jisung... I'm seventeen," he mumbled.

At that, everyone stood up. It wasn't long before Jisung was being directed into the living room; a lilac-haired boy called him over.

Jisung quickly got to know the names of those around him, while he couldn't stop thinking about the mysterious figure on the staircase.

Bewildered that a large group of people were willing to save him and take him in, he pressed his back against the wall as he continued talking to the boy beside him, Chenle.

Within a few minutes, the mysterious figure entered the room.

"Taeil…" one of the men Jisung saw earlier began to say, but was cut off by the man referred to as Taeil lifting up a hand to prevent him from speaking.

He didn't say a word as he was introduced to everyone that he hadn't met. Taeil gazed around the room, taking a few seconds to look at every single person, counting them as he did so.

Taeyong. Doyoung. Yuta. Winwin. Johnny. Jaehyun. Ten. Hendery. Xiao Jun. Kun. YangYang. Lucas. Jungwoo. Mark. Renjun. Jaemin. Jeno. Donghyuck. Chenle. Jisung.

"Twenty-one."

Taeil had to say the number in order for it to even sound remotely real.

"Twenty-one. There _are twenty-one_ people in this house?" he asked, turning to face Taeyong.

The younger male eyed the floor briefly and swallowed the lump in his throat. Looking back up, he nodded.

The veins in Taeil's forehead were about to burst. 

"You...are _fucking_ kidding me."

Hopelessly, Taeyong eyed everyone in the room.

"I don't know why you're looking at _them,_ Tae, _you're_ the one who keeps bringing 'em in!" Taeil shouted.

At that, Taeyong looked him dead in the eyes, "Are you fucking serious? _Me? Just_ me, huh? What about him?" he retaliated, pointing at Kun.

"Don't you bring me into this," Kun attempted to defend himself.

"Oh, don't act like that, you always say that you _can't leave a teenager out in the middle of a zombie apocalypse,_ or whatever the fuck it is you say!"

Taeyong's imitation of Kun made the dark-haired male scoff, "Maybe I can't, because guess what? I've got half a mind to know they wouldn't survive out there!"

"But they're not _our_ fucking responsibility!" Taeil cut in, staring at Kun.

Mark let out an incredulous chuckle, "When was there ever an _our?"_

The eldest male stared at Mark, "Wanna say that again?"

Mark repeated his words loudly for everyone to hear before saying, "You got mad at _me_ when I turned up. You never thought there was an _our…"_

"I thought there was an _our_ before a stupid amount of people showed up! I'm sorry, but twelve people alone is stupid, let alone twenty-one!"

The argument went on, insults being thrown back and forth, Taeil's rage at the amount of people now present in the house visible in his face, his tone of voice, and the way he kept his fists clenched the entire time.

It came to a head before Johnny stepped in, "Alright! Alright! Enough! You have all made your point!" Everyone began to back away from each other as Johnny continued, "Now...none of us are going _anywhere._ We all found this place. We all deserve to stay in this place."

Taeil folded his arms and leaned against the wall. Taeyong put his hands on his hips and paced back and forth. The others played with the hems of their tops or stood awkwardly as their eyes travelled across the room.

It was quiet for a while, before Taeyong said his final comment of the night.

"Johnny's right. No one is going anywhere. And no one else is coming in. Twenty-one is _enough."_

Everyone was exhausted. They all needed sleep.

They would discuss this more in the morning.

  
  
_**END OF PART 1** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that's part one done!  
> i can't believe i've written a prologue and 21 chapters  
> i'm gonna take a little break from this story so i can plan part 2 properly  
> but until then!  
> \- lrb


	23. Part 2 | Just The Start

**_PART 2_ **

 

Three bangs on the front door. Taeyong was sat outside, after having taken over from Johnny on lookout. It was morning, and the sun was rising in the east.

“Hey! You lot! I can see the three guys we took down last night! We should go and take a look.”

He stood up, took the cigarette he’d been smoking out of his mouth and threw it on the grass in front of him. The door opened behind him and Doyoung, Sicheng and Jaehyun stepped out. The redhead turned around and indicated the figures on the ground nearer the open road, the three younger men hesitantly looking past him.

“They definitely don’t _look_ like walkers from here,” Jaehyun commented, glancing back and forth between the other three men.

“Let’s have a look,” Doyoung spoke.

Cautiously, the four of them walked down the steps and sauntered over to the three dead bodies. The early morning air was crisp, bringing a slight breeze.

As they approached them, they winced at the scent.

“They’re definitely _not_ walkers,” Taeyong stated. They exchanged looks.

“What are we gonna do with them?” Sicheng whispered.

Silence filled the air as they considered their options. Inspecting the bodies closely, they noticed all three of them had bullet wounds in the side and back of their heads.

“That’s why they didn’t become walkers,” Taeyong said softly.

“We have no choice then,” Sicheng began, everyone but Doyoung turning their heads to look at him, “we’ll have to find a place in the woods. Bury them.”

The blue-haired male stuffed his hands in his pockets, grimacing at the thought. None of them could’ve ever imagined having to do something like this.

Out of the blue, behind them, Johnny exited the house and descended the stairs to join them.

“So were they definitely not walkers then?” he asked from afar.

“Nope,” Jaehyun called back, “just three guys who were after that poor boy for some reason."

Sicheng lowered his voice as Johnny came nearer, “How is Jisung?”

Johnny lowered his voice as he came closer, “He’s doing okay. He’s still a little shaken up, understanda--”

The tall-haired male’s eyes found the three figures on the floor.

 _What the_ **_fuck_ ** _happened?_

Johnny blinked multiple times.

 _The_ **_fuck_ ** _have you done?_

“Johnny? You okay?” Jaehyun asked, concerned.

 _I said_ **_get out!_ **

“Johnny!” Jaehyun repeated, snapping the older male out of his trance.

“Y-Yeah I’m fine, it’s just…” He tried to think up an excuse. “Horrible seeing people like that.”

The four others nodded solemnly before Taeyong turned to Johnny and asked him to grab a sixth person to help carry the bodies. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Johnny nodded and spun round to go back to the house.

The breeze suddenly got colder as memories flooded back to Johnny's mind. He recognised the three men. The voices in his head were so loud it was like the dead corpses had risen and were speaking directly to him once more.

Johnny shuddered. He didn't want to think about it anymore.

Re-entering the house, he called out to Yuta, who appeared in the hallway just seconds after.

"We need help carrying the three bodies from last night," Johnny explained.

Yuta nodded, _"Were_ they walkers?" Johnny shook his head. The younger male inclined his head once more. "What are we gonna do? We gonna bury them?"

"I guess so, only choice we got. Let's go."

The two men left the house and joined those who were waiting. In three pairs, Taeyong and Doyoung, Sicheng and Yuta, and Johnny and Jaehyun, they lifted one body between them and carried them into the forest.

Meanwhile, inside the house, fifteen others were slowly but surely waking up.

Except one of them hadn't really managed to fall asleep in the first place.

Jisung stared at the ceiling, images flashing through his mind, his parents, his brother, the blood, how fast he had to run.

It was too much for him to comprehend.

And now he was in a house with twenty strangers who he only knew the names of.

His eyes fluttered shut. They were all in the same boat.

"Get much sleep?" Chenle's voice called from beside him.

"Nope," the younger male replied, shaking his head, his eyes still closed.

"I didn't either."

Awkwardness rose to the surface for a few seconds before Chenle continued, "It's kinda crazy, how we all ended up here."

Jisung opened his eyes, **_'Kinda_ ** _crazy?'_

The lilac-haired boy seemed to read his mind, "Okay, I must admit, it's _very_ crazy."

 _"Too_ crazy," Jeno's tired voice spoke. The two youngest boys turned on their stomachs to see Jeno sat with his back pressed against the wall. They regarded one another with a seemingly unreadable expression.

 _“Extremely_ crazy,” Jaemin chimed in, lying on his side facing the three other boys.

They all chuckled lightly, but it didn’t sound particularly genuine from any of them. Close by, Renjun and Donghyuck were still asleep, the former quiet, the latter snoring softly.

On the sofa, YangYang’s eyes fluttered open. He looked over the back of the couch and briefly caught the eyes of the boys sitting there. Jaemin turned his head to look at him with heavy eyes. “How are you doing, YangYang?” he asked.

The wounded boy looked down at his stitches, “I’m doing… _Hng._ Fine, I guess.”

“Want a drink?” Jeno inquired, to which the younger boy shook his head.

Across from him, Xiao Jun and Hendery slept beside one another, the older boy’s head on the younger’s shoulder. Hendery awoke, and immediately caught YangYang’s eyes. They smiled at one another.

“Morning,” the younger boy groaned, stretching.

“Good morning.” Hendery glanced down to his left. Xiao Jun shifted around in his sleep, his head moving against Hendery’s shoulder, but he showed no signs of waking up just yet. A tiny smile appeared on the dark-haired male’s face as the sleeping figure; he glanced at YangYang again and lifted his eyebrows briefly. _‘He’ll wake up soon,’_ he thought.

Soon after, Kun lifted himself up off the floor and rubbed his eyes. Gazing around, he saw those who were awake and those who weren’t. He and YangYang looked at one another. “How’s your leg this morning?”

YangYang simply nodded slowly in response, and Kun immediately understood. Chenle stood up and knelt down in front of him, “Where are the others?”

“Some of them are out dealing with the um...guys from last night. And the rest of them are upstairs.”

At that point, the rest of the guys in the living room began to wake up.

“Morning all,” Ten greeted everyone in the room, everyone else following suit and those who were already awake greeting them too.

“Where are the other guys?” Lucas questioned directly at Kun.

“Dealing with the guys from last night,” Kun mumbled almost inaudibly, Lucas nodding his head once in response.

Taeil was the last person to wake up. Dark circles around his eyes from tossing and turning, he rubbed his forehead, rolled his eyes as he saw the living room filled with people, and exhaled as he realised that the last day of his life _wasn’t_ a dream.

It wasn’t a dream for any of them.

Those that were in the house found a place to sit or stand in the lounge, and gradually, Xiao Jun, Renjun and Donghyuck woke up.

It was eerily quiet for a while, as they all either gazed at the floor or exchanged looks.

“So...here we all are,” Mark spoke up.

“I think we should wait to have this conversation when the other six are back,” Kun said, to which Mark let his eyes travel the room in slight annoyance.

Taeil took a glance at each person; this was truly a messy situation.

\--

In the forest, Taeyong, Johnny, Yuta, Doyoung, Jaehyun and Sicheng searched for an appropriate spot to bury the three corpses.

Johnny winced the entire time; he was holding the body of the man who had told him a day ago to fuck off. And the men around him didn’t know.

“Just over here!” Taeyong called out to them as they approached a clearing. A small patch of grass and dirt. The redhead pondered it for a bit. “It will have to do.”

“How are we gonna dig a hole for them?” Doyoung queried as all six of them placed down the body they were holding.

“We’ll have to get creative. Grab some sticks. Do you have any knives on you?” he asked the other five, Sicheng, Jaehyun and Johnny signalling that they did. “Good, that’ll be useful,” he said, pulling out his own knife.

As the sun rose higher along with the temperature, they got to work digging holes and placing the bodies inside. It was cruel. It was _painful._ Despite what the three men had done to newest and youngest member of their team, putting a dead body in a shallow grave shook all six men to the core.

And what was worse was that something inside each of them felt that they would need to do it again some day.

And that broke each of them. Especially Johnny, who stared at the dirt covering the bodies in the ditches; he felt bile in his stomach.

After a few seconds of looking, Yuta finally said, “Let’s go.”

Their journey back wasn’t short of a few walkers, but they were able to fight back, and they found that even being with just a few more people helped more than it harmed.

It was still crazy to them how it had all happened.

\--

By the time all twenty-one men were back in the house, it was nearing the middle of the day. When the six who had finished their errand entered the house, they immediately sensed tension, and walked in the living room to find it mostly quiet, save for a couple of quiet conversations happening here and there.

Taeyong appeared at Taeil's side before openly asking, "Anyone wanna go for a cigarette?"

"Yep, let's go," Taeil deadpanned, standing up.

Sicheng, Johnny, Doyoung and Ten joined them; out of the corner of Ten's eye, he saw Jeno and Jaemin stand up.

"Hold on, aren't you two too young to smoke?"

Jeno walked towards the small group, Jaemin following close behind, "Not quite."

 _"He_ definitely is!" Kun interjected, indicating Jaemin.

"Does it even matter?" the young boy in question replied, looking straight at Kun, exhausted already.

The dark-haired male across from him stood up, "It matters to me."

"Why? You barely fucking know me." Jaemin pushed past the group, cigarette box and lighter in hand and exited the house. Jeno quickly took off after him and stopped him just as he was outside the door.

Inside, everyone looked at Kun. All the dark-haired male had to say was, "Sorry if I just want to look out for them."

The small group of males going out to smoke saw Jaemin sit down on the steps and light up a cigarette. Jeno sat down beside him and lit one up of his own.

The six men behind him realised they couldn't control whether he smoked or not, and just went about lighting their own cigarettes.

Out of nowhere, Jaemin huffed. "I don't even do it that often, okay? A part of me _hates_ doing it…"

The dark-haired boy beside him regarded him with slightly glazed eyes.

Once Jaemin noticed Jeno's gaze, he returned it.

"What? I never _used_ to smoke…" the younger boy explained, looking down at his feet.

"You and me both," Jeno replied.

The others looked at the two of them, a little shocked that they appeared to be getting along so well.

A few seconds later, Donghyuck appeared with a cigarette in his mouth, and he lifted his lighter to the end of it.

"God, how many of you teenagers smoke?" Doyoung asked.

"Well, I know Mark doesn't," Donghyuck said.

"Chenle and Jisung don't," Jeno spoke, slightly muffled by the cigarette between his lips.

"Don't think Renjun does," Jaemin muttered.

"And Xiao Jun? Hendery? YangYang? Does Lucas smoke?" Doyoung asked.

"Is Lucas even still a teenager?" Taeyong questioned.

"I don't think any of them do. Lucas might, I don't know," Donghyuck answered, stepping forward to join Jeno and Jaemin.

Taeyong and Doyoung stared at one another, lifting their eyebrows briefly in disbelief.

"Guess we can't do much about it," Sicheng mumbled.

"Guess we can't," Ten agreed.

Inside, Jungwoo sat by himself, knees close to his chest, arms wrapped tightly around them. To his surprise, Mark came to sit beside him.

"How are you doing, um...what was your name again?"

The blonde boy looked up at him, eyes still red from crying himself to sleep.

"J-Jungwoo…"

"Jungwoo, that's it, I'm Mark." Jungwoo nodded, yet closed in on himself more. Kind words from a guy he only knew the name of were not enough in that moment to calm him down.

He could still see everything that happened as it played out frame by frame in his mind like an old movie. After each frame, the image fizzled out, leaving Jungwoo even emptier.

Mark was unsure of what to say next, but the look on the blonde's face told him all he needed to know.

"Would you like some space? Do you wanna talk? Do you want me to go?" He was about to get up but Jungwoo stopped him.

He needed the company.

"N-No. S-Stay here just, please just...stay…" The words tumbled from his lips in a stuttering mess and Mark observed a tear fall down his cheek. He knew not to leave Jungwoo's side, so he sat back down beside him and gave his shoulder a comforting rub.

At that point, Jungwoo broke down on his shoulder, and the others in the room watched as the blonde fell apart.

"Poor guy...what happened?" Renjun mumbled, asking anyone who heard.

Then, Kun stepped forward to sit in front of the two of them. Jungwoo opened his eyes to look at him. "Two's company, three's a crowd," the older male said, trying to inject some optimism, though it wasn't exactly working.

Jaehyun came to sit by the window near Renjun, "His sister became a walker. We had to...you know…"

Immediately, a sober expression appeared on Renjun's face, as well as Chenle and Jisung. Those who were near Xiao Jun, Hendery, YangYang and Lucas explained what had happened, and they all fell silent.

The only noise that those who were smoking outside could hear upon returning to the living room, was the sound of quiet muffled crying against Mark's shoulder. Once Taeil saw it was Jungwoo, he felt a lump in his throat, and turned to the three teenagers.

Explaining what had happened, all three of them bowed their heads.

Sicheng beside him bit his bottom lip hard. He decided to sit beside Jungwoo.

Kun, upon seeing him, clasped a hand to his mouth as he remembered.

"Winwin…"

Sicheng lifted a hand to stop him as the crying boy lifted his head to look at the new arrival.

They stared into one another's eyes for a few seconds.

Jungwoo could immediately see why he had come to sit with him.

Another sob left his lips as Sicheng rested his hand on top of the blonde's wrist.

"I don't need to say a word, do I?"

Jungwoo shook his head as he rested his forehead on Sicheng's shoulder and continued to cry. Mark and Kun backed away a little and glanced at each other, Mark biting the inside of his lip, Kun feeling tears pool around his eyes.

"Such a cruel world," Renjun mumbled as he turned to look out of the window.

"Too cruel a world," Jaehyun agreed.

\--

Late afternoon came by quicker than any of them could have imagined. There was now a lot more movement in the house as they all toured the place, seeing what resources had been left behind or forgotten about.

They were all upstairs, apart from YangYang, who was being taken care of by Kun.

"Who do you reckon stayed here before we all came?" Renjun asked curiously.

"By the looks of it, a family of some sort," Yuta replied.

"I'm guessing maybe three, four kids?" Taeil wondered out loud.

"Perhaps. Three bedrooms," Johnny pointed out.

"What do you think happened to them?" questioned Jaemin.

They all thought about it for a while before Jisung opened one of the shut doors and screamed loudly before running away and down the stairs.

"I think that's our answer," Hendery said, Xiao Jun close behind him. Taeyong and Taeil looked at one another before they both walked towards the room. Taeil pushed the slightly ajar door open a little more and the scent immediately hit him. Both he and Taeyong covered their noses with their tops and told everyone to go back downstairs.

The teenagers did almost immediately, but Johnny quickly asked them what was going on.

Taeil indicated the room, beckoning him to go to it. Once Johnny did, he could smell what the other two were smelling, and covered his nose as well.

In the room, there was a dead walker couple lying beside each other on the bed. There were gunshot wounds in the side of both heads, the weapon used in the male's hand.

"Oh Jesus Christ," Taeyong uttered as all three entered the room. Yuta appeared behind them, and when he saw, he covered his mouth and ran as he felt he was going to be sick.

Johnny sauntered further into the room. On the floor, he saw a cracked photograph of the couple. He picked it up and showed it to Taeyong and Taeil.

"Fucking hell…" Taeil muttered.

There was a short pause.

"Where are the children?" Taeil asked.

"You think there were children?" Taeyong responded.

"Definitely, one of those bedrooms looked like a kids room. And the other one seemed like a spare room."

"There seems to be no sign of anyone else in this house."

"Two possibilities," Johnny began, "they've either run away or…"

The tall male fell silent; he didn't need to say anymore anyway.

"How did we never know they were here?" Taeyong questioned, looking straight at Taeil. "Did you not check over the whole house when you first came? Seems like a pretty big thing to overlook."

"I heard no noise and I...guess I was just comfortable with that."

The redhead gazed at the couple on the bed.

"We'll need to get them out of here," Johnny stated, putting the picture face down on the floor in the corner.

"Yeah, but how? Not gonna lie, don't really want them to see it. Especially after Jisung's reaction…" the dark-haired male commented.

"That poor kid…" the redhead said sympathetically.

All three pairs of eyes turned to the window.

Sometimes it was even _more_ difficult to deal with.

\--

Jisung was nervous to ask, and didn't quite know _who_ to ask, but decided to go to Kun.

"Um...K-Kun?"

The dark-haired male turned to him, "Yeah, is everything okay?" He could see the shell-shocked look on his face from what he saw earlier.

"Are they...gone?"

Taeil overheard the question being asked and immediately stepped forward. "They are _,_ Jisung. I'm so sorry you had to see that."

"Thank you, T-Taeil…"

The young blue-haired boy walked away sombrely, his head low, and Taeil and Kun glanced at one another.

They didn't know each other, yet they all began to feel a sense of responsibility.

It was evening, and the sun was setting. The teenagers were talking among themselves to try and keep each other's minds busy, while the older males discussed the resources they had.

A few knives, a couple of handguns, little food, some alcohol and water, and plenty of cigarettes. The people with lighters held onto them.

Taeil glanced around the room. He wanted to talk with the others about their resources, but suddenly felt the coldest chill wash over him. He left unannounced, and sat on the staircase to light up his second cigarette.

Soon after, he saw a young pink-haired boy sit to the left of him, who also began smoking his second cigarette of the day.

"Saw you through the window, thought you'd want some company."

The older male inhaled before taking the tube out and huffing.

"Donghyuck, isn't it?"

"That's me," the younger boy replied.

"What do you think about all this?"

Donghyuck pondered it for a bit as he took another hit of his cigarette, "Bit of a shitshow. But to be honest, we're all here now. Might as well get used to it."

Taeil raised his eyebrows before he looked towards the rising moon.

"We've not had much trouble from walkers today."

Donghyuck shook his head, "No, indeed we haven't. But...can't speak too soon."

Taeil breathed in once more then exhaled the smoke, "No, we certainly can't."

\--

"So is this where we're _definitely_ going to sleep the entire time we decide to stay here?" Lucas asked.

"God this house, full of so many fucking questions," Doyoung said under his breath.

"I was just asking!"

"Well, we all ended up asleep down here last night, but now I think we should at least split up a little bit. Some going upstairs," Ten suggested.

"Good idea, I'll go upstairs, along with Taeil, Johnny, Yuta, Doyoung, Ten and Jaehyun and WinWin," said Taeyong, looking at Kun who immediately knew why he was skipped over.

"I got it, I got it."

"The rest of you will stay downstairs. Okay?"

The younger males nodded.

"Who's on lookout tonight?" Sicheng asked.

"Me," said Taeil, to which the younger male nodded.

Once they had figured out their sleeping arrangements, they bid each other goodnight and went to their respective places.

Taeil stepped outside with his torch in hand and sat down.

_'How has it been nearly twenty-four hours?'_

He looked up to the night sky.

_'Insane.'_


	24. Part 2 | Grateful

"Do you really think this is a smart idea? We're out in the middle of fucking nowhere!"

The older males heard Lucas' voice behind them, Yuta and Ten turning around to press a finger to their own lips and shush him.

Lucas brought his voice down to a whisper and repeated his question, causing the people in front of him to roll their eyes.

"It's early enough!" Taeyong began in a loud whisper. "We knew we had to get out before the sun rose too high."

The young boy exhaled and shook his head as he carried on walking, Mark to the right of him looking up at him briefly.

"I can't believe we convinced them to let us go with them this morning."

"I can't believe it's already the second day of us being under the same roof," Lucas replied.

Mark inclined his head to the side in agreement, "You're not wrong."

"Guess we all gotta get used to it," the older boy responded, letting out another breath. He spoke up, "Hey, can I ask something?"

"Does he ever quit?" Doyoung asked Taeyong as the redhead allowed Lucas to ask.

"Why did Kun say he wouldn't come out with us?"

They contemplated for a while, before Johnny responded, "He said he would take responsibility over the younger ones, take care of them while we were away. Not gonna lie, none of them looked like they were too happy about it."

"The youngest two don't seem to mind," Sicheng stated, "what are their names again? Chenle and Jisung?"

"They _do_ seem to like his company," Yuta agreed.

"Maybe it's because he's been a lot less hostile than you lot," Mark said honestly, making everyone stop and turn their heads.

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?" Johnny questioned.

"Well, let's be real, I think they're a little scared of you guys. I think it'd be better if you just tried to be more... friendly? I don't know. Just don't be huge dicks," the dark-haired boy shrugged.

The older guys exchanged looks.

"Maybe he's right," Jaehyun admitted, and everyone looked at him. The light-haired male addressed the group, "I mean, the youngest is seventeen for God's sake. Maybe it _would_ be better if we at least _tried."_

He and Johnny caught eyes. "I think so too," the taller male said.

They all nodded in unison, before Taeyong said, "As for Kun, I don't know… It seems there might be something else."

"Who knows?" Taeil said. "We might find out what is."

As they started their journey again, the redhead paused for a second.

_'Yeah, we might.'_

\--

"Where did the others go?" Donghyuck questioned openly as he descended the staircase.

"They went out to find food," Jaemin responded as he passed by and walked into the kitchen.

"That'll be hard." Ruffling his bright hair, Donghyuck followed the younger boy into the kitchen where most of the guys were already talking.

"Ain't it weird how both sides of town connect on either end of this long open road? And these forests too! They're huge, and creepy as fuck," said Hendery.

"I know...they're…" Xiao Jun tried to find the right word, and furrowed his eyebrows in an attempt to figure it out.

"Eerie?" Renjun suggested.

"Yeah!"

"Well, that's the reason why I told the others to let you stay, considering what you've all gone through in those forests," Kun explained.

They all fell silent, some of them began twiddling their thumbs, others started pacing back and forth in the kitchen.

"Do you think they'll be safe out there?" YangYang nervously asked.

In an attempt to sound hopeful and optimistic, Kun stammered, "I-I'm sure they'll be...okay."

"Isn't it strange how we're all suddenly starting to care about each other so much?" Jaemin made a point of saying, earning him a glare from the eldest one. The young boy immediately noticed. "Well I mean, I'm just saying we've-- Look it's weird for us too."

Jungwoo observed the conversation from afar. He wondered how long it would be before it was all over.

"I think the strangest part of it all, is how...intact this place seems to be," Donghyuck noted, walking around the kitchen, hands on hips. He closely inspected every crack on the wall, every bit of ruined carpet on the floor, every speck of dust within eyesight. "Despite how ruined it all is."

"Clearly an abandoned place," Hendery chimed in, folding his arms.

"But the people who lived here either did so for a long time before the apocalypse started, or…" Kun began.

"They found this place soon after it started and died here," Renjun interrupted.

"Why would someone buy a house all the way out in the middle of nowhere?" YangYang questioned.

"Makes you think," Chenle commented.

It became quiet for a little while, before Jeno pulled out a cigarette and asked Jaemin and Donghyuck if they wanted to join, both of them nodding in response. Kun tutted.

"Get used to it, gonna be a lot more of that here," the oldest of the trio said.

"Won't be any left by the end of the week," the eldest male replied.

"We're getting good at not wasting them," declared the bright-haired boy, his cigarette already between his lips.

Instead of going out the front, they decided to stay close by, and headed out back.

Once they were gone, Jungwoo decided to stand up and join the rest of them. He sat beside Xiao Jun.

"H-Hi," the blonde nervously said. Xiao Jun looked to his left and a small smile appeared on his face.

"Hey. Jungwoo right?"

"Yeah, Xiao Jun?" The younger boy nodded. "And Hendery?" he said to the slightly longer-haired boy sitting to the right of Xiao Jun. They both offered a warm smile before Jungwoo turned to the others sitting in the same room.

His face was still red. Kun bit the inside of his lip.

"How are you, Jungwoo?"

The blonde glanced up at him, a frown slowly forming. He tried to swallow down the sudden lump forming in his throat, a lump that grew any time someone asked how he was.

A simple, typically well-intentioned question that threw him off guard. Kun noticed his eyebrows furrowing, and the atmosphere growing more cold, so he held back from asking again and merely signalled to the younger male that he didn't need to answer.

The others watched the silent exchange amazed.

Kun turned his attention to Xiao Jun.

"How are you, Xiao Jun?"

The brown-haired boy nodded, running his hands over his thighs multiple times, trying to warm them up slightly. Hendery saw this, and out of nowhere, took his hands and warmed them up himself.

Xiao Jun looked up at him, eyes wide. The younger boy smiled at him.

Everyone else was left shocked. Jungwoo chose to leave them to it and moved to sit to the left of Renjun.

The younger blonde turned to the right and looked at Donghyuck, who, through the window, could be heard joking with the two others he was smoking with.

_'I can't believe that's the same guy I saw out in the street. The one that I…'_

He was cut off from his thoughts by Jungwoo asking him, "Everything okay?"

Renjun turned his head to face him, snapping himself out of his trance. "Y-Yeah, yeah, I'm, I'm good…"

"That's good."

Letting a brief smile appear, a frown returned almost as soon as Jungwoo turned his attention back to the group. He looked out of the window again at the trio and tugged at the inside of his cheek.

He wondered if they would ever properly talk, although he was certainly aware that the current circumstances led to that not being too high on the priority list.

\--

The sun was at its highest, and it was getting hotter. The large group that had gone out on their errands had to take more frequent breaks as they drew nearer to a place where food may be available.

It was the biggest gamble, and the biggest risk to take in the middle of an apocalypse, but they had virtually no choice but to take it.

After a few hours, they reached the edge of the forest and looked out.

The town was filled to the brim with walkers, and they tried to find places that could potentially have enough food.

As they hid behind a few trees, Ten whispered, "You know what's funny? I was just thinking, it's amazing how the oven at the house still works."

Every head turned to look at him, each person's facial expression a mix of _huh?_ and _what?_ and _shut up._

They turned back to observe the town in front of them, some putting their hands above their eyes to block out the sun above them.

"You think there's a way to avoid them?" Jaehyun wondered openly.

"Either we go round the outside, or we go straight through the middle. One way or the other, we're gonna get caught out by _some_ walkers," the redhead explained, taking a deep breath in.

"Would it best to go round the outside?" Sicheng asked. Taeyong turned his head to face him.

_"Maybe."_

"Worth a shot," Taeil piped up, the leader gazing back at him. He exhaled.

"Only choice we got I suppose. We go _through_ town, that's a straight up death wish. Everyone got their weapons?"

The rest of them got out what they had and Taeyong nodded before standing at the front of the group.

"Everyone, follow me."

They did as instructed as they stayed close behind the redhead. Taeyong led them around the outskirts of town, killing walkers whenever one appeared. Despite knowing the men behind him for less than forty-eight hours, he had to put enough trust in them that they _wouldn't_ want to die.

The trust he put in them ended up being well justified when they all arrived at a cul-de-sac nearby some bins with very few injuries, only minor scrapes from walkers who got to them a little too quickly.

Thankfully, they hadn't come across any runners yet, but none of them wanted to say it out loud.

They all hoped - touch wood - that they wouldn't run into any for a while.

Suddenly, Johnny spoke up, "Isn't there a small corner shop nearby?"

"Yeah!" Yuta replied in a whisper. "It's about a few hundred yards that way," he stated, pointing in the direction of said shop, Johnny nodding in accordance.

The tallest of the group lifted his head to see where they would all be going.

"What do you see, Johnny?" Jaehyun asked.

"Walkers. Some houses. The shop we need to be going to." He knelt back down. "We'll have to be pretty stealthy."

"No shit," Sicheng muttered.

The sun beamed down on the area, contrasting with the derelict nature of the place.

"We have to move fast," said Taeil urgently.

The others agreed, and prepared their weapons.

At the back, Mark began breathing heavily as the sound of the walkers came closer.

_'Why did I come with them?'_

He shook his head to try and stop the sounds from affecting him too much, and he opted to focus on his weapon and the people around him to keep his mind off it.

“Are you guys ready?” Taeyong asked the small group. They all nodded in unison before they started moving into town.

Those with their handguns used their ammunitions sparingly as they shot the walkers who came too close at point blank range. The others they dealt with with a combination of knives and sharp kicks to the torso. They couldn’t go any nearer, unless they wanted a set of bite marks on their skin and fast-acting venom flowing through their veins.

Taeyong, Taeil, Yuta and Doyoung crouched behind one wall, while Lucas, Johnny and Mark finished dealing with a small team of the creatures before finding a hiding place of their own. Ten, Sicheng and Jaehyun were the furthest behind, but found a place to hide unscathed.

Peering around the corner, the redhead made sure that they were all okay before indicating that they were going to move forward.

Everyone followed his lead.

They arrived just across the road from the shop; the guys who needed to reload did so, as they saw walkers hanging around outside the entrance.

Glancing at one another and nodding once, the leader and the blue-haired male lifted their handguns over the top of the brick wall and began shooting, effortlessly killing every walker in sight. Taeyong then looked back at the group and ordered them to go in front, and they did so, heading for the entrance and making their way inside. Taeyong and Doyoung joined them soon after.

Once they were all in the shop, they noticed corpses all over the place. A few of them finished off those who could potentially come back to life and as soon as they were certain, the redhead turned to them and said, “Right, search the place. Gather whatever you can find. Doesn’t matter what it is. Just take it, and let’s get out of here.”

With no hesitation, the group started scavenging the place to take whatever they could fit in the five backpacks they had between them.

 _‘The perks of a large group,’_ Doyoung wondered as he stuffed a few slightly crushed breakfast bars into his bag.

Taeil hopped over the counter and opened the kiosk where all the cigarettes were. Sicheng noticed this and let out a chuckle.

“Of course,” he commented, and the dark-haired male turned to look at him.

“Can’t let any of this go to waste,” Taeil stated. “I know there are a couple back at the house who would appreciate this too,” he said, indicating Jeno, Donghyuck and Jaemin.

Taeyong briefly looked at eldest male, shocked that he was seemingly warming up to them already. Taeil caught his eyes.

“Don’t get me wrong, the fact that they smoke doesn’t exactly sit right with me. But hey, what can you do?” A smile appeared on the redhead’s face. “What?”

“Nothing, it just seems as though you’re kind of warming up to them, at least a little bit.”

Taeil scoffed, “Am not.”

At that, a few others laughed.

“Oh come on, you are just a _little_ bit,” Mark spoke up. Taeil turned to him.

“I am _not!”_ he replied defensively.

“Okay, Taeil, whatever you say,” said Taeyong. “Come on, let’s finish up here.”

Everyone with backpacks put them on as Taeil finished up stocking his own up with cigarette packs. He put his backpack on when he was done and followed the group out of the shop.

It was a long, quite uneventful journey back, but the heat never helped matters.

\--

The front door to the house opened, and everyone inside came running to see the small group return from their escapade.

“What did you get?” Kun asked the group.

“All the food that we could get our hands on, which wasn’t a _whole_ lot, and...Taeil has all the cigarettes,” explained Johnny.

They all stepped into the kitchen and emptied out what they had, which was many varieties of canned food, some snacks in packets, a couple of extra bottles of water, some alcohol, which Kun tutted at, and Taeil opened his bag and tipped out all of the cigarette packets he had picked up.

“Nice!” Donghyuck said excitedly.

“Jesus Christ,” Xiao Jun began, “there’s like,” he started counting the packets, “twelve packets here!”

“On top of what we already have,” Hendery continued.

“Well that means this will last us quite a while,” explained Taeil as he looked up at Kun, who was glaring at him with daggers in his eyes. He finally rolled his eyes and exhaled.

“Well, at least we have _some_ food now. And a bit more water. I may be able to actually cook something tonight, if I can get this goddamn gas stove working.”

“It’s gas, Kun, put a lighter to it it should be fine,” said Ten, holding his lighter out.

Kun tutted once more before taking the lighter.

“It’s better than nothing. Beggars can’t be choosers.”

\--

Chickpeas for dinner. Not the most glamorous meal, but they didn’t have much choice.

The bowls - as there was only six of them - had to be shared by all twenty-one males.

It was difficult, but quite funny to some of them at the same time.

Despite chickpeas being a bland and boring meal, they ate up and enjoyed every bite like it was a meal at a five-star restaurant.

Kun was right. Beggars _can’t_ be choosers.

\--

Routine. Something that the apocalypse hadn’t taught any of them, given how unpredictable it could be, save for the guarantee that walkers could and _would_ appear around every corner.

But a routine was what staying in a house with twenty others taught each of them, as they quickly realised that they didn’t just have themselves to think about anymore.

The sun rose once more, the third day of them being in the house. Each morning bringing about the reminder that they were effectively all in this together.

It was Yuta’s turn to be on lookout, and once he re-entered the house, and saw those in the living room waking up, he simply folded his arms and leaned against the side of the doorway leading into the relatively big room.

A small smile appeared on his face. He didn’t know how he would feel about it.

Staring down at his arm, the stitches still somewhat visible, he choked out a laugh.

_‘If I hadn’t found this house, I would probably be dead now.’_

He looked backwards towards the stairs. Towards the ceiling. Towards the people that were sleeping up there. Or that had probably already woken up.

He hid his lips before biting them.

Yuta was _thankful._ He was _grateful._

And for some reason he knew that everyone in this house was grateful too.

And they were.

They _all_ were.

If it weren’t for the house, they wouldn’t have been able to now survive their third day.

It was a more peaceful time, as they spoke to one another more about themselves. Not so much about what brought them there, but just about themselves as people.

As they talked more as a large group in the confines of the house, Taeil found himself believing more and more that Taeyong was right the day before.

He _was_ warming up to the younger ones. He was warming up to the older ones too.

Taeil no longer felt hostile towards them.

He felt thankful.

He felt _grateful._

The eldest male blinked as tears pooled. He would tell them soon.

As would the other twenty.


	25. Part 2 | Small Mercies

Sicheng pulled back the branch of the tree and looked into the forest; he noticed there was a small group of people trekking through the grass, using knives to hack at bushes. It was mid-afternoon, and the sun was hiding behind a few clouds, appearing every so often to beam down on the backs of their necks before disappearing again.

“Isn’t it crazy how no one else has found the house yet?” Yuta whispered as he crouched down behind Sicheng - he hadn’t quite noticed the small group, until Sicheng tapped his arm and told him to look ahead. “I see...you think they’re looking for shelter?”

“Likely, especially out here.”

“What are we gonna tell them?” Sicheng looked back at Yuta, furrowing his eyebrows a little, puzzled. “The others, I mean.”

“Ah,” the younger male replied, and he pondered it for a few seconds. “We tell them to just be prepared. We need to stay hidden; one of two things could happen if they find us, and to be honest, I don’t want either thing to happen.”

Yuta nodded in agreement and followed him around the outskirts of the forest until they happened upon the stream.

“Highly convenient that this shit’s still clean,” Yuta commented as they approached it.

“But not so surprising when you consider how barren this place is. Not many people come out here. I’m just glad there aren’t any walkers in the water, then it _would_ no longer be clean.”

Yuta concurred, though pointed out that there had been a few close calls as he gestured towards a small pile of walkers near the stream.

When they knelt down and began collecting water in the two two-litre bottles they had, they started hearing distant voices behind them.

“Look at that!” a male voice said, rather pleased with himself. “Now if _that’s_ not a place worth staying, I don’t know what is.”

Yuta and Sicheng prayed that filling up the bottles would take less time as they waited for them to be completely full before putting the lids on and running to the back of the house.

“Fuck,” Yuta began under his breath, “of _course_ they’ve spotted it.”

“We need to warn the others,” Sicheng replied.

They walked into the house without being noticed and gathered everyone.

“Guys, we’ve got a small group of people approaching. They want this as shelter,” explained Yuta.

“And just when we thought no one else had found it,” Doyoung said.

“No one else had found it after Jisung came,” Johnny muttered so only Mark could hear him.

“For sure.”

“Everyone,” Taeyong immediately quieted everybody down, “we need to make sure they stay away from this house. _We’re_ here now. We better protect it, or whatever.”

The others exchanged looks as some of them crept towards the door.

“What are you hoping for? That the sheer amount of us will frighten them off?” Kun’s voice was a mixture of a lack of confidence and knowledge that that was _obviously_ the effect Taeyong was going for.

He shook his head as he eyed the ceiling. Four days in and they were using _themselves_ as a defence mechanic. _‘Unconventional, but the only choice we’ve got.’_

It was a little while after that they heard a voice outside, muffled by the walls of the house, “Um… I think someone might already be in there…”

“Well then, we can ask to _join_ them.”

Cautiously looking at one another, their eyes said the same thing: _no more, twenty-one is enough._

There was a knock at the door. Taeil took a step forward and opened it up, slowly, and the bright smiles on what appeared to be the leader’s face quickly turned to shock, wide eyes appearing on all of their faces.

The redhead walked towards the door. “Hi.”

Everyone else looked at him.

 _‘What the fuck is he doing?’_ Jaehyun thought.

 _‘Taeyong...please, no…’_ thought Ten at the same time.

The apparent leader of the group was lost for words, “I- Um… I… Uh--”

“As you can probably see, we’re a little packed here. We can’t really recruit new people.”

Doyoung squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose in embarrassment.

The people outside didn’t have much else to say, before they backed away from those in the house, nearly falling down the stairs as they did so. They then turned on their heels and fled.

Taeyong shut the door and turned to see the others. Doyoung lifted his head and stared at him.

“Recruit? _Recruit?_ We’re not a fucking business, Taeyong.”

“I’m sorry! The right word didn’t come out… Anyway, didn’t you say you used to work for a business?”

 _“Yes,_ but that doesn’t mean I want to be reminded of it!”

“Alright you two, calm down,” Taeil stopped the both of them as he walked past them and into the living room. With his back to the majority of the group, he said, “Look, I can guarantee we’re gonna get a bit more of that while we’re here.”

“How long do you reckon we’ll be here?” Renjun asked.

The house fell silent. They hadn’t quite got round to having _that_ conversation yet.

Taeil turned around. “For a while. Not _too_ long though. That bed is _really_ fucking uncomfortable.”

“Well you chose to take off the whole mattress,” Yuta retorted, Taeil shooting him a glare in return.

“Well I hope we don’t spend too long here either. Ever properly smelled this place? Stinks of shit,” Jaemin spoke as he wandered into the kitchen, a few of the younger ones following him. Taeil exhaled and rubbed his forehead.

Being the eldest made him feel like a dad. At twenty-four.

He didn’t sign up for this. Except he had.

What a confusing situation to be in.

\--

Being out in the middle of nowhere had its perks. Walkers rarely found the house. There was less chance of people bothering them (they took the small group finding the place earlier on in the day as one of these few chances).

There were some things, however, that made living out in the middle of nowhere extremely difficult.

Food being scarce was a given, and needing to travel any distance when death was around every corner was terrifying, but it was the little things.

The house being so old and decrepit that it was falling apart at its hinges meant that even in the warmest summer days, they quickly found that the nights were so cold.

While the house seemed to be a good place to stay, they were worried about how it would hold up if walkers were to ever get _too_ close. What if there was a huge swarm of them, bigger than the crowds that followed some of them leading up to discovering the place?

If their own experiences didn’t keep them up at night, these questions circulating their minds did.

Lucas laid on his back and stared at the ceiling, one hand behind his head. Beside him, sleeping on the floor, was Jungwoo. He turned on his side.

“Jungwoo? You still awake?”

“When am I not?” the blonde’s faint voice replied. Lucas eyed the floor before biting the inside of his bottom lip. Jungwoo then turned to face him. “Why can’t you sleep?”

“Possibly the same reason why most of the others here can’t sleep a lot of the time: thinking about shit.”

Jungwoo hummed in response before turning to lie on his back. He stared at the ceiling as more tears pooled around his eyes. Lucas heard him sniff and whispered, “Hey, it’s okay…”

They looked at one another. “Is it though?” Jungwoo’s voice was fragile, and he had to bite down on his bottom lip hard to stop himself from crying more.

Lucas was unsure of what to say. He looked down at the floor, tears of his own beginning to fall. He remembered his mother. What she said to him. Her face appeared in his mind as Jungwoo swallowed down every little lump in his throat. Lucas turned to lie on his back, mirroring Jungwoo.

Elsewhere in the living room, YangYang was struggling to sleep, his injury still causing him problems. Across from him, Hendery asked him if he was doing okay. YangYang caught his eyes and nodded, “At least, I _think_ so.” He couldn’t even let a fake chuckle out, when the constant thought of how he would have died that day if it had not been for the others in that house was stuck in his head.

“Are the stitches starting to clear up?” Donghyuck asked while sat on the window sill.

“Kind of...maybe… They might be.” YangYang’s dishevelled voice only barely reached Donghyuck, who nodded slightly in response to what he heard.

Out of nowhere, a tired voice spoke, “Shouldn’t you all be _trying_ to get some sleep?” Kun.

“We’re trying, not really working,” Lucas spoke up.

Kun sat up and observed how awake everyone seemed to be.

Lucas turned his head to gaze at the older male. In that moment, he admired Kun for how strong he appeared to be. There was no doubt in his mind however that there was something Kun was dealing with, much like everyone else in the house.

They all still had yet to find out.

\--

The fifth day made everyone remember how difficult it was to deal with walkers.

Renjun looked out of the window in the early afternoon. “Guys...tiny problem here.”

The four eldest males stopped playing their game of cards (they had found a deck in one of the cupboards in the kitchen on the third day) and walked towards the window. Taeyong turned his head to address the group.

“Grab some weapons. We’ve got some shit to clean up.”

Walkers were approaching the house at a relatively slow speed but it seemed to be so fast.

Jaehyun was the first to walk out, Jaemin on his tail. Doyoung followed after, Jeno close behind.

There was some protest from Kun, but the only reply he received was being told multiple times that they needed to learn how to defend themselves.

He kept his own mantra close to him. When he was asked to help, he shifted it onto Mark. Mark, who seemed to not like facing them. They noticed how he backed away from the noise. It became too much for him. He couldn’t ask Jungwoo to do it. He turned to Hendery.

Hendery, who felt like he had a job to protect Xiao Jun ever since the first day. Xiao Jun, who stayed close to Hendery and feared going outside and killing them.

Donghyuck decided to take one for the team and left the house following Johnny, but not before he and Renjun caught each other’s eyes.

Renjun, who hadn’t yet spoken to Donghyuck properly about the time they saw each other. How they immediately seemed to recognise one another. Some of the others noticed the awkward air around them, but didn’t want to bring it up.

Behind Renjun, Ten stepped forward. Ten, who hadn’t spoken much since they started living there, and wasn’t completely used to the idea of killing a whole group of walkers at once. He took a deep breath and joined Taeyong, knife in hand as Donghyuck left the house as well.

Chenle and Jisung, who Kun forbade from doing any such killing. YangYang, who couldn’t as he was still injured. Yuta, who always tried his best to help despite his own wound.

Taeil, who still felt his bitterness creep up every so often. Sicheng, who felt the same way as they left in a pair.

Lucas, who was always willing to get revenge as he killed walkers alongside Yuta.

They all had their own personal vendettas. Things that would stop them from killing, or push them towards it. Only one person still saw the humans within the walkers, and he curled up into a corner of the living room, wishing it would all go away.

Mark appeared beside him, and Jungwoo had a look of relief on his face. He always felt like Mark was in his corner.

The day was filled with nothing but walkers. All through the night the only light source they had was that same flickering lamp post.

They thanked whoever or whatever they believed in - even if they didn’t believe in a single entity - for small mercies.


	26. Part 2 | Strength in Numbers

In front of Jeno, Jaemin placed two tens. A victorious smirk came across the younger’s face as others observed their game of Twenty-One.

“No fair! You saw the deck beforehand, cheater!”

Jaemin looked up at him and his smirk instantly dropped. “Did not!”

“Did too!”

“Okay, children, move out, let me and Mark play,” called Lucas from afar as he approached the pair.

“But this is our first round!” argued Jeno.

“It was your first round _four_ rounds ago, now scram.”

Jeno dropped his cards, showing that he lost  - he went over by three - and him and Jaemin stood up from where they were sitting on the floor and moved to the side. Lucas called Mark over who had been inspecting some scars on his legs, patiently waiting for his turn; Mark got up and jogged over to where Jaemin was sitting and took a seat. Lucas shuffled the cards and dealt them out while the youngest males (and Jungwoo) came to spectate.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Kun was still working out how to not get mad at the gas cooker he had no choice but to use.

Behind him, Ten and Doyoung were sat at the dining table; the latter lit up his own cigarette before lighting up Ten’s, and they both sat and smoked. It wasn’t before long before the smell travelled to Kun’s nose.

“Could you two _not?”_ He kept his back to them.

“What?” Ten asked, tube between his fingers as he exhaled.

“Smoke while in the kitchen? Or anywhere in the house, for that matter.”

Doyoung scoffed quietly, letting a chuckle out as Ten shook his head.

“We’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, Kun, and your main concern is whether or not we smoke in the house?” Doyoung questioned.

“Well, you know, it’s _because_ we’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and have to constantly worry about being killed by walkers that I’m concerned.” Kun turned his upper body to look at them. “Also, it’s just considerate.”

Ten and Doyoung stared at each other. Ten then sighed, a little exasperated. “Come on, Doyoung. Let’s go.” They both stood up and caught Kun’s eyes as they left, the eldest of the trio smiling politely yet a little sarcastically. He turned back to the stove and huffed.

A few moments later, Sicheng entered the kitchen. “Told them off for smoking indoors again?”

“Don’t, Winwin, that’s the third time I’ve had to tell them.”

“Didn’t think you’d be taking care of two _older_ kids when you came here, huh?”

Kun merely shook his head, leaving Sicheng to chuckle. “Well, I’m gonna go join them for a smoke. Do you smoke Kun?” he asked, moving the cigarette in his hand between his fingers.

Glancing up at him briefly before looking back at the stove, Kun shook his head and said, “Nope. Never saw the appeal in it. I think I tried it once when I was at a party a few years ago or something. Coughed and sputtered so much I decided to never touch it again.”

Sicheng made an understanding _ah_ sound before he moved to exit the kitchen through the back door. Kun briefly stopped him and asked how many people in the house smoked.

Sicheng turned around, “Well Taeil, Johnny, Taeyong and Yuta do. Those two do,” he said signalling Ten and Doyoung. “I do. Not sure if Jaehyun does. Jungwoo definitely doesn’t. Lucas and Mark don’t I think. Xiao Jun and Hendery don’t. Renjun doesn’t. Jeno, Donghyuck and Jaemin all do.” Kun tutted at that. “And the youngest three don’t.”

Kun counted the people in his head, “Well, that’s ten that definitely do.” Sicheng lifted his eyebrows in agreement, then placed the cigarette between his lips and left the kitchen.

“Is Jaehyun around?” Kun yelled openly. Jaehyun ran into the kitchen at the mention of his name.

“You rang?” he said, drumming a beat on his thighs.

“Do you smoke?”

Jaehyun seemed to ponder it for a bit. “I do and I don’t. Sometimes. If the mood takes me.”

Kun hummed, then replied, “That’s all. Just wondered.”

Jaehyun nodded then turned and left the room again.

Kun suddenly groaned at how annoying the stove was being. The chef of the house would never get over it.

\---

“We may need to get more supplies sooner than we thought, Taeyong,” Johnny worryingly said as he stood beside the redhead.

“Hmm. We can certainly make it last if we just get a little more savvy with how we use it.” Taeyong appeared to indicate the youngest members of the group, who all glanced over at Taeyoung briefly before returning to their activities, or whatever they called entertainment in the middle of the apocalypse.

“Do you think we’d ever need to...you know?” Yuta posed.

Johnny loudly grimaced at the thought, “Wait...you don’t mean?” He indicated himself and the others.

“Oh my _God,_ Johnny, no!”

Johnny sighed in relief and put a hand over his chest as Yuta and Taeyong stared at him awkwardly.

“What I _mean_ is, go out and...hunt. You know…”

Things fell silent as the others exchanged looks.

“Honestly, Yuta, I wouldn’t trust it. Not with how fast it’s spread out there,” Hendery answered. “Same goes for the water. It may be clean now but who knows? It could all become dirty and infected overnight on _any_ night.”

“Hendery’s right,” Renjun added. “We’ve been drinking that water, and we’ve been fine, miraculously. But as Hendery said, it could become unsafe at any moment.”

“One walker falls into that stream? Bam, we can’t touch it again,” Donghyuck added.

Yuta inclined his head. _‘That’s my question answered.’_

“Are there any other water supplies that may be a bit further but are clean?” Chenle asked.

“Well, some of us came from one end of the open road, others came from the opposite end. At either end within the forest, there _may_ be one,” Taeil stated.

“Should we go out there? Check?” Jaemin wondered.

Taeil shook his head, “Far too late. It’s getting dark and it’s less safe to go out.”

Jisung nodded to himself, then said in a quiet room, “It is.” His voice seemed so loud.

Jeno beside him placed a hand on his shoulder before wrapping it around him. Jisung put his head on Jeno’s shoulder and the others watched them briefly before lowering their heads.

“Also for the sake of those that had to come here in the night, we won’t go out after the sun sets, got it?” Taeyong addressed the whole group. Everybody nodded solemnly.

“Good, now, it’s getting late. Let’s all go get some rest. Doyoung, you on lookout tonight?”

Doyoung nodded and got ready to sit outside for the night while the rest of them retired to where they had been sleeping ever since the second night. Uncomfortable, yet functional.

\--

How they had already been there for an entire week was a mystery to them. Nevertheless, they were thankful that they had managed to survive seven days together in a house that could fall apart on them any second.

More herds of walkers were passing through the forest and down the open road with each day that came and went. More often than not, they had to step outside to get rid of a few walkers that had come too close, but sometimes, they could avoid them.

It was another quiet day in the house. Some of the older males were figuring out how to properly ration their resources. It was a mystery to them all how no one else had found the house and completely emptied it, considering how many useful things were left behind.

Jaehyun reasoned that it was because anyone who entered the house had discovered the corpses upstairs and fled, being too scared to deal with it. Taeil still wondered how he had missed a detail _that_ big.

For the first time since they all stayed in the house, they decided to sit down in the living room and simply talk to one another. They realised that they didn’t know much about one another or what brought them to the house. Soon they discovered that it was pure coincidence; no one was looking for the house per se, they had all just stumbled across it.

“The apocalypse is a strange thing,” Ten said, the rest of them humming in agreement.

"A famous character in a film once said, _life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get._ And in many ways, life _is_ like that. Things will happen that you won't be expecting. You may turn a corner and find a pot of gold or open a box and find a pile of shit,” Taeil stated after a while.

“You _do_ have a point,” Taeyong replied. A few seconds of silence.

“So…” Xiao Jun began, glancing over at Taeil, “what _did_ bring you here?”

Suddenly, all eyes turned to Taeil. He swallowed the lump in his throat. Stood up. Walked over to where there used to be a fireplace in the living room.

Turning around, he told his story to twenty pairs of ears, everybody looking at him.

Some of them closed in on themselves. Others exchanged looks. A few kept their eyes firmly locked on Taeil’s expression.

Out of nowhere, Johnny began his story. All eyes then turned to him.

Taeil and Johnny saw each other more clearly when he finished speaking. They looked into each other’s eyes before the younger of the two had to tear away. Taeil moved to sit beside him and he rested a hand on his shoulder. Fresh tears threatened to fall from both men’s eyes. Johnny rubbed harshly at his eyes. The others watched the two of them almost fall apart, helpless.

Johnny sniffed, “Wh-Who was the third one here? Weren’t it you...Taeyong?”

Taeyong nodded solemnly before sitting forward; He rested the half empty bottle of beer in his hand that he had found and been drinking on the coffee table. He told his story.

YangYang stared down at his leg where the stitches had completely healed.

“Th-Thank you,” he choked out. They found each other’s eyes.

“Don’t mention it, kid.” Taeyong bit down on his bottom lip hard as he grabbed the beer bottle off the table and drank the rest of the beverage in one.

Yuta stared at the floor, pensively. He knitted his eyebrows together, then looked down at the scar on his arm. “Thank you, Taeyong.”

The redhead looked over at Yuta. Saw what he was looking at. “It’s okay, Yuta.”

The younger male then knew it was his turn to speak. The others listened closely.

“And that’s where _this_ scar came from. Glass shards from the fucking car window. Thank God none of you thought I was bitten,” he tried to force out a chuckle, but everyone in the room could tell.

Next was Kun. His story told everyone the reason why he didn’t want to kill walkers.

“Do you guys understand now?” His tone of voice made him sound more hard-hearted than he intended, but the majority of them knew. There was someone underneath that shell living to regret the mistake he made. Kun drew his knees close to his chest.

“I guess it’s my turn now,” Doyoung muttered. He spoke his piece, put one leg over the other as he was sitting on the sofa, and said, “I don’t want to talk about it anymore though. Just wanna move on from that part of my life.”

Ten took a deep breath in. Others noticed he was preparing to speak. His lone wolf story made others anxious for him. He explained how grateful he was to have finally found a group.

“I heard a group talking nearby, but I narrowly avoided them. I uh...stepped on a twig and they thought it was a walker.”

Sicheng’s eyes suddenly widened. He turned to Ten, _“You_ were the noise my group heard that night in the forest!”

Ten turned back to him, “How do you know that?”

“What did you hear them say?” Sicheng was desperate to know.

“They um…” Ten tried hard to remember. “Uh, I heard a woman say it might’ve been an animal, or something that’s...all I can remember.”

Sicheng nodded vigorously, “I was in that group!” Ten’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Well...you don’t see that every day,” Mark piped up.

Sicheng and Ten continued looking at one another as Jaehyun stood up, realising it was his turn. Once he started speaking, the two older males broke eye contact to pay attention.

They all agreed, Jaehyun’s story was terrifying.

“You could’ve been killed!” Johnny said, standing up.

“But I wasn’t! And to be honest, I don’t like to think about the _could’ve been.”_

Johnny exhaled deeply and rubbed his forehead. Jaehyun took a step towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder, “I’m fine.”

They made eye contact. Some bridges were already being formed.

They then looked down at Sicheng. “Winwin,” Jaehyun began, but didn’t need to finish.

Sicheng suddenly grew very defensive. “Do I _need_ to tell my story to any of you?”

Taeyong breathed out.

Taeil glanced at Sicheng.

He remembered their first meeting. The lighter. How Sicheng had picked it up, not knowing the owner was already in the house. He was about to defend Sicheng when he stood up.

Sicheng had noticed that all eyes were fixed on him.

Everyone noticed the hurt in his voice when he spoke.

Jungwoo nearly burst into tears. Thought about his sister again. Knew he was next.

Mark approached him and placed a hand on his back, “You...you don’t…”

Jungwoo shook his head, wiped his tears away and looked up.

All eyes turned to him. Already knew the story, but were waiting to hear what Jungwoo would have to say.

By the end of it, they understood why Jungwoo never wanted to fight.

The young blonde curled up into a ball beside Mark and wept silently.

Lucas didn’t know whether he should continue the line of storytelling, but saw Jungwoo signal to him that he should. So Lucas did.

“I can answer that for you,” Yuta said, hearing Lucas tell the group that he didn’t know why he was here. “It’s because you essentially allowed yourself into the house and we had no choice.”

Lucas eyed the floor and let out a scoff. He folded his arms and leaned against the wall.

Mark was next. They all took note of how sound and noise had affected him.

“Dealing with walkers is fine as long as I’m distracted. Focus too much on the noises they make I…” He didn’t need to explain further.

Hendery then glanced over at Xiao Jun, who prepared himself. Hendery seemed to hold his hand tighter the further into the story he got.

“We’re thankful you’re here, Xiao Jun,” Chenle suddenly said. Xiao Jun turned to him and a small smile appeared on his face. Chenle returned the smile. Xiao Jun then looked at Hendery, who let go of his hand and cracked his knuckles as he told his own story.

“Thank you for helping us with our water supply, Hendery,” Taeyong said. The young boy nodded, then looked over at Xiao Jun, who didn’t have to say anything else for Hendery to understand fully what his eyes were saying.

Everyone watched them. They were all so surprised that they had clicked so well and so quickly.

Renjun and Donghyuck briefly looked at one another as the older boy stood up and took in a breath. Donghyuck kept his eyes on Renjun as the blonde told his story. Every so often, Renjun would look over. They both knew that had to talk properly at _some_ point.

Renjun’s story didn’t mention Donghyuck, so the pink-haired boy decided he wouldn’t mention Renjun.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with those dickheads,” Johnny said. Renjun shrugged.

“Price to pay, I suppose.”

Jeno was next, though he stayed where he was. Jaemin watched him the entire time.

Hendery, upon hearing the last sentence, stood up and turned to face him. He and Jeno locked eyes for only a second before Jeno had to look away. The older boy approached him and asked him to stand up. Jeno looked up at him, Jaemin looking back and forth between the two of them. He watched Jeno stand up. They all observed the two of them shaking hands.

“Thank you for helping my sisters. Even though it didn’t…” Hendery couldn’t help letting a tear fall. Jeno lightly squeezed his hand and they looked at each other once more, every ounce of understanding within both pairs of eyes, before they parted ways and returned to their original positions.

“It’s me now, right?” Donghyuck asked. Some of the others nodded before he stood up and told his story. Renjun gazed at him.

One bridge that needed to be built. They both knew it.

Donghyuck sat down after he had finished and crossed his legs. His eyes panned over to Jaemin, who exhaled. At this point, everyone was paying close attention.

“Instead, you found us,” Ten spoke up once Jaemin was done.

“Yeah. For a while I was conflicted. Then I realised, they didn’t want me to stay with them, otherwise why would they have purposefully left me behind?”

Jeno looked over at him. He was thankful that Jaemin was there. He didn’t know why but, he was thankful.

“I’m glad I found this house. Thank you for taking me in,” Jaemin said.

YangYang, Chenle and Jisung were left.

Everyone was glad that they were able to save their lives. All three stories were so different yet essentially the same. Late night, separated from family, absolutely petrified.

YangYang looked at his scar for what felt like the millionth time.

Chenle was so quiet when he was telling his story that it was sometimes hard to hear him.

And it was difficult for Jisung, but he pushed through. The others couldn’t imagine how much strain the apocalypse had put on someone so young as the three of them, along with those that were only a year or two older.

Silence fell across the room once again. They had all told their stories. Vulnerability hit all twenty-one of them like a truck.

There was strength in numbers, but through telling their stories, they began to find strength in each other.

Maybe they were already finding it.

Strength in numbers held so much meaning after that day.


	27. Part 2 | Finally

“It was my birthday last week,” Taeil mumbled, throwing his cigarette away from him.

Johnny turned to him, the first person he met. For a few seconds, he didn’t know how to respond, until his words spoke before his brain could think, “Was it?”

His tone of voice was curious, yet solemn. Taeil nodded a couple of times, “Of course, I did nothing to celebrate it. I mean, what _can_ you do?”

Next to him, Taeil could hear Johnny kiss his teeth, a clear mix of knowing it was a rhetorical question, and showing contempt for the entire situation. No more birthdays could be celebrated after the apocalypse started. It felt wrong, in a way. A whole day meant to be dedicated to the day someone was born turned into another day that person was thankful to be alive. No one felt like they could celebrate anything.

There was nothing _to_ celebrate. Apart from, perhaps, the fact that they were now on their eighth day of surviving with one another.

It became a case of _with_ instead _beside._ A simple change in wording meant a big change in their relationship towards one another, however intense the word _relationship_ may be.

It merely meant that they now understood that, whether they like it or not, they were all going through the same thing. In different ways, sure, but essentially it was all the same. In no way intended to remove the severity, but instead to demonstrate how they had all found comfort in one another through telling their stories.

Day eight, and things were only going to get harder.

“We were gonna go out and look for a new water supply, weren’t we?” Yuta asks inquisitively, appearing at the front door and leaning against the frame.

Taeil and Johnny slightly turned their heads inwards before nodding almost simultaneously.

Yuta also nodded, “Right. Who’s coming with us?”

“I think the some of the teenagers should,” Doyoung stepped forward to say.

“You kidding? Kun will fucking kill us,” Johnny replied, turning his body around fully to look at the two men standing.

Doyoung shrugged, like he had no choice but to make the suggestion, “I’m just saying, I think it would be a good way for them to learn how to defend themselves. We’re gonna run into some of those things, no doubt, and they haven’t been alone for long before they found this house.”

“So you think _that’s_ a viable reason for why they should go out there?” Yuta questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Exhaling, Doyoung said, “You know what I mean.”

“I think what Doyoung is _trying_ to say is, they have experience being out there already, but it’s not enough. They need to learn. They can’t be sheltered from the world,” Taeil explained.

“Yes, exactly,” said Doyoung. Johnny and Yuta didn’t seem convinced, but they weren’t going to push it.

“I still think Kun will kill us, but, if you think it’s a good idea…” Johnny muttered, standing up.

“What if we die?” Doyoung suddenly asked. He stared straight at Johnny. “What if _Kun_ dies? I wanna do this so they can protect themselves.”

The teenagers were sitting in the living room, and could hear every word. Some curled up into a ball, terrified of the thought of going out there. Some sat with their backs straight, listening in, wanting the opportunity to do what Doyoung had proposed. Jeno and Jaemin looked at one another. As did Renjun and Donghyuck (before they immediately broke eye contact). Jisung moved closer to Chenle. Kun, Ten, Taeyong, Jaehyun and Sicheng descended the stairs and saw the small congregation outside. Doyoung turned to face them.

Kun narrowed his eyes, “What?”

“Kun, don’t be mad, but…” Doyoung began, but was instantly cut off.

“No, I refuse.”

Stubborn as ever. Just as they had predicted.

“It’s _important_ for them to learn,” the blue-haired man tried bargaining with him, but it didn’t look like it was going to work.

“Listen, they are _too_ young to be learning how to fling knives around and shoot guns and go out there all alone!”

“Some of them are nearing _twenty,_ Kun. _Twenty!_ How young is _too_ young in your book?” Doyoung retaliated. “What, is _Mark_ too young? Lucas? Jungwoo? Next you’ll be telling me _Taeil_ is too fucking young!”

“I’m just looking out for them, okay?” Kun shouted.

“One day you might not be able to!”

Silence. Everyone eyed the floor, apart from Kun, who kept his eyes firmly locked on Doyoung’s. The people out in the kitchen came into the hallway to see what was going on.

Kun was stunned. He had no idea what to say. For a few seconds.

“I need a drink.”

Taken aback, the dark-haired male stumbled into the kitchen, grabbed the bottle of scotch off the side and took it out back. They had found that bottle in one of the cupboards. Kun liked scotch, but he didn’t think he’d touch it again since everything began.

Taking the lid off, he took a big drink and the lukewarm, almost flat-tasting liquid nearly burned his throat as he sat down on one of the chairs just outside the back door.

Doyoung clasped a hand over his mouth. Words he instantly regretted. He felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes, tears that he swore not to cry for as long as he could help it. The remorseful man didn’t say anything, but simply turned on his heels, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it up to smoke.

The others didn’t know how to react. A part of them chastised Doyoung for being a prick, but a part of them knew that he was speaking the unspoken and to some extent, forbidden truth.

It was a topic they didn’t like to talk or think about much, because it terrified them.

Doyoung’s words reminded them that it could happen at _any_ time, to _any_ of them.

And it was this that led Taeyong, Yuta, Jaehyun and Sicheng to take Xiao Jun, Hendery, Renjun, Jeno, Donghyuck and Jaemin out to look for a clean water supply. YangYang was still recovering, and Chenle and Jisung themselves didn’t want to go. The two of them were still plagued by the events.

So they let them stay. And the three of them respected the others decision to go.

\--

It was mid-afternoon, and the ten of them slowly crept through the forest, looking in every direction for a sign that there was clean water nearby. The stream they always drank from was okay, for now. They had to find something new, and something not too far.

But the further and further they trekked into the woods, the more they discovered that finding something nearby was going to be impossible.

Yuta and Sicheng stood at the front of the group, the teenagers formed a cluster in the middle, and Taeyong and Jaehyun stood at the back.

Jaemin remembered what had happened to him, and stayed close to them, fearing that they might split up, whether intentionally or accidentally.

That was when, slowly but surely, he felt a hand hold onto his. Looking to his right, he saw Jeno standing there.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Jeno whispered, his eyes warm, soft and genuine. Jaemin felt like he fall into them. Jeno’s eyes were the ocean, so deep, and Jaemin wanted to get lost.

A voice talking snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Get down!” Yuta whisper-shouted, instructing the group to hide behind some bushes.

Ahead, they could see walkers approaching. 

Suddenly, Donghyuck began to stand up, extending his legs, “I can deal with them.”

Renjun’s head snapped to the right. Instinctively, his arm outstretched and he grabbed onto Donghyuck’s shoulder, “What are you thinking? You can’t go out there alone!”

Looking back at him, they gazed at one another for a while before Hendery stood up, “Come on, we can tackle them together.”

Jaemin gripped onto Jeno’s hand tighter, and it seemed Jeno had the same idea since he reciprocated to remind Jaemin that he was still there.

Xiao Jun stayed close to Hendery, who reminded the older boy that he wasn’t going to leave.

Donghyuck and Renjun stayed staring for a few more seconds before the latter stood up and to the left hand side of Jaemin. In other words, on the other end of where Donghyuck was.

 _‘Not the right time, Hyuck, focus,’_ the bright-haired boy thought to himself.

“Do one of you think you can kill a walker by yourself?” Yuta asked tentatively. Taeyong looked at him from the back of the group.

“We don’t have much time to think about it, we need to get a move on!” he replied.

Jeno then quickly squeezed Jaemin’s hand and the two of them looked at each other. The younger boy gulped then slowly let go, allowing Jeno to step forward.

His moves were careful, calculated, as Jeno crept towards the first walker and, knife in hand, swung at the creature and hit it in the neck. He kept cutting as blood splashed out and they all watched, grimacing. Donghyuck then stepped forward to deal with another. Sicheng was on their tails.

Nudging Renjun, Jaemin nervously asked, “Sh-Shall we, um…?” He indicated an oncoming walker and the blonde nodded before they both tip-toed towards it. Jaemin impaled its stomach while Renjun struck its head with a large branch he had found.

Jaehyun came up from behind them and killed a walker that was moving a little bit too quickly for his liking, and with Taeyong behind them, Xiao Jun and Hendery moved away from the bush to take care of another.

They all made their way through about a dozen or so walkers, before meeting up again beside a large tree.

“I tell you, that _never_ gets boring,” Taeyong commented sarcastically.

“We still need to look around for a good water source, come on,” Jaehyun urged the others to follow in his general direction. They did so, and walked for a few minutes in the same small cluster before Sicheng stopped them.

“Guys!” he whispered. “Over there!” The sun was already beginning to set. They knew they couldn’t stay out there for too long.

A few metres to their left, they saw some rocks and heard the distant sound of water running.

“Do you think…?” Xiao Jun began.

“A spring,” Hendery finished. Sicheng nodded at them all, and Taeyong told him to lead the way.

Gradually, they all made their way across the forest over to the spring and looked down from above. The redhead kept a lookout as the others stepped closer to inspect the water.

“Hendery, you’re the expert, what do you make of it?” Yuta asked, a little tongue-in-cheek. Hendery rolled his eyes a little but couldn’t help a tiny grin forming as he passed Yuta and made his way down the rocks.

“Be careful!” Xiao Jun called out to him, albeit quietly.

“Hmm,” Hendery tilted his head, “it looks pretty clear.” He scooped up a handful of water and smelled it. “Doesn’t smell funny.” He shook off his hand and wiped it dry on his jeans. “Again, I can’t tell if it’s truly clear or if the rocks below it are messing with me.”

This time, he put both hands in and scooped up some water, then held it in a certain place so he could see better. “Looks fine to me,” he posited, before bringing the water to his mouth and taking the tiniest sip. Everyone watched, a bit worried but staying as optimistic as possible. Hendery then sipped a little bit more. Nodding to himself, he threw the rest of the water onto the ground and wiped his hands on his jeans again.

“We need to fill up as much as we can. We don’t know how long this spring is gonna last out here,” he explained.

That evening, Taeyong, Jaehyun, Yuta and Sicheng went back with the two plastic bottles they already had and some extra glass bottles they found in the house (that were originally full of alcohol) and filled them to the brim.

The teenagers stayed at the house.

How crazy it is that something can be considered home so quickly.

\--

It wasn’t long before rolling a pencil back and forth across the table became boring. And slightly annoying. Two minutes to be exact.

Although the older males couldn’t blame the younger ones, they were just doing something to pass the time away.

Day nine.

The mornings seemed to pass by a lot faster, the sun seemed to be setting a lot earlier and night time felt like it didn’t exist.

Renjun grabbed his bag and opened it, searching for his sketchbook. He was thankful that no one had gone through his bag and taken anything. Learning to trust strangers fairly quickly was tricky to say the least.

Opening, he flicked through the pages until he stumbled across one particular page. His eyes then flickered up. To him. To the boy he wrote about in this sketchbook. To Donghyuck.

_Is it crazy to develop a crush during a zombie apocalypse? He had pink hair, almost neon…_

“What you reading?” Chenle asked, crawling to sit beside him. Renjun immediately snapped the book shut and looked at him.

“Uh, um, nothing.” He seemed to grab the attention of some of the others in the living room. Including Donghyuck. _‘Fuck’s sake,’_ the blonde thought. _‘I can’t fucking do this anymore.’_

Standing up all of a sudden, he exited the room and made his way upstairs and into the only empty bedroom. He shut the door behind him, but didn’t slam it shut.

Donghyuck closed his eyes briefly. Opening them again, he only saw Taeil standing opposite.

“You gotta do something about it, Hyuck,” he said, almost nonchalantly. 

Donghyuck was taken aback, “Excuse me?”

He heard them snicker a little bit, but then Taeil said, “You know _exactly_ what I mean.”

Tugging the inside of his bottom lip, he rubbed the hairs on the back of his neck and finally decided to sort it all out once and for all.

The older guys had to suppress cheers at the fact that the two of them who _clearly_ had some stuff to work out, were finally doing it.

Upstairs, Donghyuck passed the two bedrooms that he knew were occupied, and approached the one door that was closed. He knocked three times and waited.

“Come in?” Renjun said hesitantly. Donghyuck opened the door and stepped in, shutting it behind him. “Oh, hey…” The blonde turned his back.

Donghyuck couldn’t help but chuckle, but he didn’t quite know what was funny, exactly. “We’ve barely said more than a few words to each other.”

Renjun nodded in agreement, only looking back a tiny bit but never meeting the younger boy’s eyes. Donghyuck exhaled. Twiddled his thumbs. Noticed Renjun holding something close to him. “What’s that?” he asked, stepping forward.

“Oh, um, this?” Renjun turned around, holding the book in his hands. “This is just my sketchbook.” The blonde shut his eyes. Was he actually considering this?

“You draw?” Donghyuck asked. Not sounding surprised. Not sounding shocked. Just genuinely intrigued. And Renjun appreciated that; he nodded.

They shared eye contact for what felt like the hundredth time since the first time.

“May I...have a look?” It seemed like a bold question to ask, but it was like Renjun was already considering it as he smiled and held out the book for Donghyuck to take, which he did.

The bright-haired boy began looking through, commenting every few seconds on how amazing the blonde’s sketches were. Renjun felt a little shy. He knew what was coming.

Donghyuck turned to the page and stopped. His fingertips ran over the pencil markings that made up words he quickly discovered were about him. 

_Is it crazy to develop a crush during a zombie apocalypse? He had pink hair, almost neon. The most handsome face, even though I only saw him from afar. I don’t know why I was so taken by him, but for some reason I couldn’t stop staring. And he couldn’t stop staring back at me. It seems like I won’t be able to forget his face for days, maybe even weeks. If we were to ever meet again, I don’t know what I would do. Be shocked I guess?_

_It’s definitely crazy to have a crush on someone in the middle of an apocalypse._

“You…” Donghyuck looked up, “You had a crush on me?”

 _“Had,”_ Renjun scoffed a little. He kicked his feet against the wooden floor then looked back up. Donghyuck shut the book then. He took slow steps towards Renjun, who instinctively looked up. Throwing the book onto the bed, Donghyuck’s hand gradually found Renjun’s.

“Would it be crazy of me to say I also developed a crush on _you_ that day?”

Renjun ran his tongue over his lips, his eyes darting around the room because he couldn’t keep eye contact. Naturally, his fingertips ran over Donghyuck’s knuckles.

“Depends. Do you still have that crush on me now?”

Renjun’s eyes finally found his.

“Would I be standing this close to you if I didn’t? And I mean, do _you_ still have that crush on _me?”_

Renjun cracked a smile. “Would _I_ be standing this close to _you,_ if I didn’t?”

They both chuckled, their hands still ghosting over one another. Renjun’s laughter died down pretty quickly. “That’s a _yes_ by the way,” he said.

Donghyuck only asked one question as he stared at the blonde. “May I kiss you, Renjun?”

“You may.”

When their lips met, it was like nothing else in the world existed. Donghyuck cupped Renjun’s cheeks, as Renjun’s hands met the younger boy’s waist.

They continued kissing for a while, completely getting lost in one another, knowing that they had finally done something about the constant stares, the constant lack of communication, the constant avoidance of _their_ current situation.

And it genuinely felt so good to _finally_ dosomething.


	28. Part 2 | A Few Dozen Questions

Upstairs, in the front bedroom, Jaehyun, Johnny, Lucas and Mark all sat on the floor. Day nine went by too quickly for anyone’s liking, but at the same time it meant they made it through another day.

Jaehyun exhaled, “Has it really been ten days?”

Lucas stared at him, “Is anyone counting?”

“I know Taeyong is,” Mark mumbled, standing up. “Taeil might be too.”

“It was his birthday last week. I guess he has no choice but to count,” Johnny explained. The other three looked at him, before eyeing the floor sadly.

“I had no idea,” Mark said, to the floor almost.

“Neither did I, until he told me yesterday,” Johnny mumbled, leaning his head back against the wall to stare at the ceiling. “Guess he didn’t want people giving him birthday wishes,” he said, a lot clearer this time.

Lucas hugged his knees close to his chest, “I wonder when his birthday _actually_ was.” The other three looked at him. Lucas noticed, “It might give us an idea of what day it is now.”

Mark glanced at the other two, who exchanged gazes, unsure of whether they should bother him on the subject. At that moment, there was a knock at the door: Taeil.

“Come in, yeah,” Jaehyun sighed. Taeil took a step into the room and noticed the air was slightly different.

“Is everything...good? Did you lot just have a fight or something?” he almost scoffed a chuckle but the four of them shook their heads in unison. Taeil and Lucas locked eyes and the older noticed the younger wanted to ask something but was holding back. “Did you want to ask me something?”

Shaking his head, Lucas stood up and made to leave the room when Taeil stopped him, “Just _ask_ me, whatever it is.” The younger male rubbed the nape of his neck and glanced down at the tattoo on Taeil’s right forearm: _Rise free from care before the dawn and seek adventures._ Taeil noticed his eyes were glued heavily on the tattoo, and didn’t know whether he should elaborate on it, or cover it up and protect it. Looking at the ink now he didn’t really know why he ever got the tattoo in the first place.

It seemed to the other three noticed he was looking and followed Lucas’ eyes to the tattoo as well.

Taeil decided to elaborate, “It’s a dumb tattoo I got on my 21st birthday. I don’t even really know what it means now. I guess it holds no meaning now. I just remember thinking _whoa such a cool tattoo! Yeah, gonna rise like a bird!_ \- or whatever the fuck.” The laugh that escaped Taeil was forced.

“When _is_ your birthday?” Lucas asked, a sudden confidence surging through him, as if he had the nerve to ask such a question. It quickly faltered though, “I-It’s just...well, Johnny mentioned that…”

“Last week. Well, just over a week ago. 14th June,” Taeil deadpanned.

“June? Are we really in June already?” Mark openly asked, rubbing his forehead.

“Well it _has_ been a little over six months since it all started,” Johnny told them, standing up along with Jaehyun.

“So, was it your birthday the day you came here, or?” Lucas continued questioning. Taeil exhaled.

“The day before I found this house was my birthday.”

The others blinked, seemingly shocked that he was able to remember any dates when there was no way of knowing what time of _day_ it was.

“Well, when you get so used to counting days, you remember when the important ones fall.” Taeil delivered the line like it was part of some grand speech. And in a way it was. The apocalypse often brought out the poet in him.

A strange silence fell over the whole room for a few seconds before the eldest male asked why they wanted to know the specific date.

“Lucas thought it might help us work out what day it is today,” Mark explained.

“Hmm, it’s been ten days right?” Taeil wondered. “Including the first day we all got here, which would be the 15th, 16th, 17th…” He began counting. “24th. It’s the 24th June.”

“Well, now that we know that,” Jaehyun, hands on his hips, began, walking towards the door, “we might as well let the rest of them know.” He turned back to face the other four, but then his eyes fell on Taeil. “Wait a minute...we totally got side-tracked asking about your birthday that we didn’t ask what you came here for.”

“Ah, right, yeah,” Taeil tried to collect his thoughts before he looked back up at Jaehyun again. “Ten’s gone out with some of the teenagers.”  
\--

“Keep up you four! Don’t wanna see you lagging behind,” Ten called out to Donghyuck, Renjun, Jeno and Hendery who were on his tail. Hendery had asked Xiao Jun if he wanted to join, but the latter wanted to stay behind with the others. Jeno had asked the same of Jaemin, but Jaemin didn’t want to risk anything happening, which Jeno understood.

Donghyuck and Renjun stayed close, holding hands every so often. Jeno and Hendery, while things were still a little tense, had a shared mindset and the same expression on their face every time they saw the two boys in front of them look at each other, their eyes sparkling.

_‘God I’m gonna hurl, but I can’t lie I kinda want that.’_

Ten suddenly stopped near a tree and looked back at the four teenagers, “Oh, hurry up!”

“We’re coming! We’re coming!” Donghyuck shouted back at him, shaking his head in the process. Once the five of them were together, Ten addressed the group and told them his plan.

“Right, our plan is to find a _new_ place of shelter.”

Donghyuck, Renjun, Jeno and Hendery looked at him, bewildered.

That was _not_ the original plan when they left the house that afternoon.

“Uh, I’m sorry, weren’t we just coming out here to fetch some more water?” Renjun asked, eyebrow raised, indicating the stream that wasn’t too far from their present location.

“Yes, yes, we can do that _but,_ we _need_ to find a new place. That house is not gonna continue standing for much longer! Hell, it was already falling apart when _Taeil_ found the place. We need to move to a place that’s more sturdy! Has better protection!”

Jeno pinched the bridge of his nose, “Look, while we understand the sentiment, there is _no way_ most of the guys will even begin to agree with that concept.”

“What concept?” Ten asked, crouching down to brush some dirt off his shoes.

“The...the concept of moving all twenty-one of us to a newer place! We’re so many months into the apocalypse the chances of us finding a place like that is _very_ slim! Or, pretty much impossible,” Jeno stated.

“That’s why we _look!”_ Ten explained, like the four teenagers were crazy to think that it was a bad idea. The eldest male, purple backpack on his shoulder, turned on his heels in the direction of the stream; their _original_ plan.

Once they arrived at the stream, they noticed some walkers up ahead. Donghyuck leaned down to whisper in Ten’s ear, “Shouldn’t we deal with them first?”

“They’re too far away, they won’t bother us.”

Donghyuck pulled back and looked at the other three. Hendery sighed and spoke up, “Ten, I _really_ think we should kill these walkers. They look to be coming a lot closer.”

“Yeah, as in, _they can spot us_ a lot closer?” Renjun warned.

Ten carried on filling up the empty water bottle - the only one they needed to fill up - before standing back up and closing the bottle.

 _“Ten…”_ Jeno said through gritted teeth.

Putting the bottle in his backpack, Ten put it back on his shoulder and stared at the group coming closer.

“Fucking hell, run!” Donghyuck shouted.

Immediately, all five of them darted away from the stream and away from the mass of walkers that looked to be following them. They didn’t stop until they were out of the forest and in the middle of the winding road that lead them all to the house, one way or another.

“You asshole, Ten!” Donghyuck screamed.

“What? We weren’t in any danger!”

“Not in any danger?” the bright-haired boy yelled. “Not in any danger? You’ve got to be fucking _kidding_ me!”

“They were on the other side! Walkers are slow, they wouldn’t have got to us in time!”

They began to close the distance between them. Renjun tried to stop Donghyuck from punching Ten in the face while the other two attempted to calm Ten down, who was getting more and more riled.

“Say that again when one of us is bitten!”

“None of us got bitten though, so calm the _fuck_ down!”

“Any one of could’ve been though!”

Their noses were almost touching. Renjun then stepped between them and physically pushed them apart, Jeno and Hendery helping him.

“You two! Calm down! No one got hurt, none of us are bitten, but at the same time, you shouldn’t have been so careless to assume we were totally okay!” He directed the latter part to Ten.

Ten tried to argue, but instead he breathed out and stared at the floor. Renjun turned to Donghyuck and put a hand on his chest to prevent any further discourse that would lead to one of them actually getting hurt. Donghyuck looked at him then exhaled. They were both significantly calmer already.

“Maybe the...plan to find a new place wasn’t so good after all,” Ten admitting, sniffling. Jeno and Hendery stepped away from him and regarded him with a look of sympathy almost. The four of them watched Ten fall to his knees and bury his head in his hands, before they heard him break down in tears.

Slowly, they all came to join him in the middle of the road as he apologised over and over again. Donghyuck did the same, before wrapping his arms around Ten’s neck and pulling him close. Ten cried into the younger boy’s chest. The first time he properly cried since losing his friends.

Donghyuck let a tear shed too. “Come on...let’s go _home.”_

Ten nodded against his shoulder, “Home. _Home.”_

_Home._

\--

The remaining guys in the house paced back and forth as they thought about what Taeil had eventually told them all.

“Ten?” Sicheng finally said out loud. And it seemed to be what they were all thinking as they all simply hummed a similar tone of confusion in response.

“Not gonna lie, when Ten stepped forward and said he wanted to go out to get some more water I was already surprised. When he then asked to take some of the teenagers with him I was more surprised,” Chenle told them.

“Why didn’t you tell us when he first left?” Yuta asked him.

Chenle shrugged, “I thought you already knew.”

“It’s true,” Taeil began, “I only found out when I realised five of them were gone and then Chenle told me.” Yuta exhaled.

“Well, hopefully they won’t be out for too long,” Kun declared.

“They won’t be, if Ten remembers the number one rule we have which is no going out or staying out after dark,” Taeyong reminded them.

“I just hope they’re all okay,” Jaemin said, staring off into the distance. He was snapped out of his trance by Jisung waving in front of his face.

Afternoon passed them by, the sun’s heat pouring through the windows. Since they figured out it was the 24th June, the weather made more sense to them.

 _It felt like a summer month,_ Doyoung had said.

 _You can never be too sure though,_ Jaehyun had added.

The trees still managed to stay a brilliant, vibrant green. Even through all the turmoil, nature had its way of telling the group that things were going to be okay. It seemed to be some sort of pathetic fallacy, watching how the grass could affect their current situation, and their mood.

If the clouds came over, it would either be a sign of a storm of walkers, or an actual storm approaching. Either way, it wouldn’t be a good turn of events, although one held a lot more weight than the other.

Later on in the afternoon, the front door opened to reveal Jeno, Hendery, Renjun and Donghyuck, who had his arm around a despondent Ten.

Upon hearing the door open, everyone filed out of the living room and came to stand in the hallway. All eyes fell onto the bundle that had his arm wrapped tightly around Donghyuck’s back.

“Ten? You okay?” Doyoung asked.

The younger male couldn’t help but fall apart again as he walked away from Donghyuck and towards the closest person, who happened to be Johnny. Johnny welcomed him with open arms as he and some of the others lead him into the living room to sit him down on the sofa.

“Jeno!” Jaemin shouted as he ran up to him, putting his arms around Jeno’s neck, hugging him out of nowhere as Renjun shut the door. Surprised, Jeno blinked before returning the hug, his chin on Jaemin’s shoulder. His right thumb rubbed circles on the small of Jaemin’s back, almost instinctively.

“It’s okay, I’m okay.”

“Hendery,” Xiao Jun breathed a sigh of relief as Hendery approached him. Renjun and Donghyuck were greeted by the others as they all stepped into the living room.

Jeno and Jaemin parted after a while and looked at each other; Jaemin then looked at the floor, his cheeks burning, but when he looked back up, he could only see Jeno’s smile.

They walked back into the living room, shoulder to shoulder, glancing at one another every few seconds, but when they noticed Ten, they instantly joined everyone else in surrounding him.

“I...I was stupid,” Ten choked out, clasping a hand over his mouth. Kun sat beside him and rubbed his shoulder.

“Tell us what happened…” said Taeyong, sat on the opposite sofa.

“I...I thought that we… I mean… I came up with a plan on the way to us getting water that we...find somewhere new to stay.” He pulled himself away from Kun’s grasp and sat back.

“Somewhere new?” Johnny raised an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Hendery exhaled, seeing that Ten could no longer explain it. “He surprised us by saying that he wanted us to find a new place. A sturdier place, he said.” Ten nodded along, more tears falling from his eyes.

“But then I slowly realised how bad that idea is,” Ten then said. “Because we have this place.” He lifted his head and looked at every other person in the living room. His eyes fell on the four teenagers who came with him, “They all told me it was a bad idea. We then went to the stream, and there were walkers approaching but, I thought that they were too far away and that they wouldn’t hurt us. When I finished filling the bottle up, Donghyuck made us run for our lives until we were out in the middle of the road. He then gave me an earful for it.” All eyes turned to the bright-haired boy. “But...but don’t...give him a hard time for it,” Ten quickly interjected, extending his arm as if to physically stop them all. “I needed to hear it. Someone _could’ve_ been hurt, and I thought we were completely safe because they were on the other side of the stream. I put them in danger…” He began crying again and Kun put his arm around his shoulder.

Donghyuck then stepped forward and came to sit to the left of Ten. “The important thing is, no one got hurt.”

“But you should never gamble with things like that,” Ten tried wiping his tears away, “and I did. You were right, we should’ve dealt with them.”

“You wanna know what I think?” Taeyong spoke up. Everyone glanced at him. “I think Ten was very smart in that situation.” Ten began shaking his head, looking like he was about to protest, but Taeyong interrupted him, “They were on the other side of the stream, yes?” The five of them nodded. “There were no runners?” They shook their heads. “The four of you were keeping look out?” More nods. “And there was only one bottle to fill up.” Ten inclined his head. “Then, I think he made the best decision at that moment. You would’ve put yourself in _more_ danger dealing with those things. From what we’ve found out, it doesn’t take too long to fill up one bottle. You _were_ completely safe. Yes, Ten’s right, you shouldn’t gamble with the possibility of someone getting hurt, but there is a higher chance of someone getting hurt going up to them to try and attack them.”

“I’d never want any of them to get hurt. That’s not why I asked them if they wanted to come with me,” Ten explained. “I just knew that some of you wanted the teenagers to learn how to defend themselves so…”

“You taught us all a lesson, then,” Jeno chimed in. Ten looked over at Jeno. “Sometimes killing walkers is not the best course of action.”

Ten thought about it long and hard and let his eyes flutter shut. Opening them again, he whispered, “I need to lie down.”

Standing up, he walked away from the group and ascended the staircase. The others knew to give him space for the time being.

Things were pretty silent that night, apart from Taeyong and Yuta going out to deal with some walkers who came close to the house.

Jaehyun decided to go on lookout, and lit his first cigarette since, well, he couldn’t remember when.

He didn’t always smoke. He coughed on the first exhale.

The tenth night felt like the longest.

\--

The morning of day eleven felt like an eternity. 

In the corner of the room, Jungwoo sat, hugging his knees, looking out of the window. Mark noticed that he had been pretty quiet. Concerned, he approached the blonde, “Hey, Jungwoo.”

His voice was soft and welcoming to Jungwoo’s ears as he turned his head and saw Mark standing there. The first person who truly spoke to him in the house. “Hi, Mark.”

“You’ve been quite quiet these last few days…” Mark sat down on the floor opposite him. “What you been thinking about?” They all knew they were past asking each other if things were okay, because in the grand scheme of things, it was a bad question to ask.

Jungwoo merely shrugged in response and looked out of the window again, “A lot of things and nothing, I guess.”

Mark followed his eyes until they were both staring out of the window.

They sat in somewhat comfortable silence for a little bit, until Jungwoo asked, “Do you think, when people become walkers, they still have that human part of them?”

The question felt like a weight on Mark’s shoulders. It was always something to think about. It was something that many people had discussed and analysed since the apocalypse began. While some were out fighting walkers, others were considering how much would change in a person if they became walkers. Because God forbid _when._

“What do you mean?” Mark asked. A question only really asked to buy him time so he could think about his answer. But a part of him wanted to hear more of Jungwoo’s thought process.

“Well, if you think about it,” Jungwoo began, looking at Mark in the eyes, “when someone’s bitten, sure, they _turn,_ but who’s to say it’s their whole being that becomes a walker? Aren’t they just the same person but...zombified?”

Others could hear Jungwoo and they became interested in what he was saying.

“I guess I...see what you mean,” Mark said, a little unsure of his own words. He always believed that once someone becomes a walker, that’s it. They’re a walker. He never stepped back to consider the other side of the argument.

And it seemed that others hadn’t thought about it either.

“I’ve thought about it a lot… It just doesn’t make sense to me, how when someone becomes a walker then that’s it. That’s why I can’t bring myself to kill any walkers. I still see the human in all of them.” Jungwoo rested his chin on his knees, averting Mark’s gaze.

The younger boy felt his heart break. He recalled learning about his sister. How Jungwoo couldn’t kill her because of how he felt. _I still see the human in all of them._

Mark felt nauseous.

Instinctively, Mark reached out to grab Jungwoo’s hand. He ran his finger across Jungwoo’s knuckles, his eyes welling up with tears.

Jungwoo’s eyes flickered down to his hand.

“I...I understand why...people kill walkers. No one wants to become one of them. But how can that happen to someone? When does a _person_ become a _walker?”_ Jungwoo muttered, his own tears beginning to fall.

Mark couldn’t answer that question. No one could. No one would know what it would be like.

That’s why it terrified everyone.

Mark simply held onto Jungwoo’s hand tighter.

The rest of the day was filled with nothing but those thoughts. Those questions.

They all slept in the living room that night.

The apocalypse made them ask a few questions.

Now they were asking a few dozen more.


	29. Part 2 | Bittersweet

“I keep thinking about what Jungwoo said yesterday,” Chenle said tiredly, lying on his right side and looking ahead.

It was the break of dawn on day twelve, and they were all hungry. None of them had had a proper meal in what felt like days, and were only snacking on what they had left in the house, which was not much.

“Same. I can’t help feeling anxious about it. Makes me more anxious to…” Jisung began, but his words faltered as Chenle sat up and scooted over to him.

Placing a hand on his shoulder, the older boy whispered, “That _won’t_ happen. We’ll be safe as long as we stay here.”

“But what if we don’t have a choice and we have to leave?” Jisung argued, looking at him. The blue dye in his hair had faded quite a bit, as did the purple dye in Chenle’s hair.

Chenle’s hand fell from Jisung’s shoulder and he moved so he was sitting down cross-legged. “Then… Then…” His head was a mess. He couldn’t think of an answer.

“I’m sorry…” Jisung muttered, moving to mirror his position. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

Chenle grabbed hold of his wrist and ran his thumb comfortingly over the younger boy’s hand, “It’s okay, really… It’s an important question to ask.”

“You two awake again?” Jeno grumbled from afar. He turned to face the two who looked at him.

“Yeah…” Chenle mumbled, before they both stood up to take a seat beside him.

“Sleeping’s getting harder,” the eldest of the three tried to joke, but it came out more as desperation _for_ sleep; like he was hoping for sleep to be a sentient being so it could hear their desire for slumber. They had to remind themselves that it was mostly their brain keeping them awake with thoughts, worst case scenarios and questions that had awful answers, or no answers at all.

On the sofa, YangYang sat up and rubbed his eyes. He looked towards the window and frowned, “Is it still only dawn? I swear I’ve only slept for an hour at most.” Yawning and stretching, he moved to stand up.

“Is your leg healed now?” Chenle asked. YangYang nodded a couple of times.

“It definitely feels a whole lot better. The stitches haven’t completely gone away, but, I knew that would take time.” YangYang began to move and he was still limping a little, the injury and the stitching continuing to affect his walking.

“Don’t move around so much,” Kun mumbled in his half-asleep state. His eyes that were only slightly open forced themselves open completely. “You need to let it heal. Rest.”

YangYang sighed deliberately and turned his torso just enough so he could see Kun lying on the ground. “I’m fine, honestly.” Kun didn’t believe him entirely, but didn’t want to push it. “Maybe moving around a bit more will help,” YangYang made a point of saying, keeping his voice down as others still appeared to be asleep.

Kun lifted his eyebrows quickly, seemingly unconvinced even still, before rubbing his face and trying to let sleep take over again.

YangYang tutted, then moved to sit down beside Chenle, Jisung and Jeno. He was careful about it, and the younger duo helped him to sit with his legs extended as YangYang moved them out of Jeno’s way.

At that point, Jaemin woke up. Jeno saw him sit up beside him and stretch his legs to the tips of his toes. “Morning all,” he said, voice a little hoarse.

“Morning, Jaemin,” YangYang replied, and the two grinned at one another.

“Ugh, sleeping on the floor still ain’t fun,” Jaemin scoffed, brushing his jeans down.

“Nope, but it’s all we got,” Jeno stated, sitting up alongside him, rubbing his eyes with his palms. Jaemin noticed.

“Don’t do that, it’s bad for your eyes.”

Jeno stared at him and pulled a face as Jaemin wore a tiny smile. YangYang looked back and forth between them as Chenle and Jisung looked around at the others, some of which were starting to wake up themselves.

Jeno then broke eye contact after a while to look past Jaemin and at the couple lying beside each other by the window. The space in the living room was cramped enough, and Renjun and Donghyuck had to cuddle up into a ball beside one another.

“I wonder how that happened,” he muttered. Jaemin turned his head to see what Jeno was looking at and chuckled a little.

“Maybe they’ll tell us,” Chenle said, also looking over at the two. The five of them saw the pair move around in their sleep.

Renjun was the first to wake up. He sat up and glanced over before grinning, “Hello.”

“Hey,” the others said in unison. In turn, Donghyuck began to wake up. 

Renjun nudged him, “Wake up, sleepyhead.” Opening his eyes, the younger boy gazed up at Renjun and a smile appeared on his face. Renjun made a point of indicating the five others whose eyes were fixed firmly on the two of them and Donghyuck turned to lie on his back.

“Oh, hey.” The others waved, then exchanged looks, asking one another through the looks in their eyes who was going to ask the burning question. The couple noticed. “What’s up?” Donghyuck wondered.

“How did you two become a thing?” Jaemin suddenly blurted out, looking back. Kun then laughed, on the verge of being fully awake as he sat up and yawned.

Renjun decided to take the reins, “We didn’t mention this when telling our stories but, we saw each other one night during those first six months.”

“And you still recognised each other?” YangYang asked, the tiniest bit sceptical. Renjun nodded and Donghyuck sat up. Donghyuck felt the older blonde rest his chin on his shoulder and he kissed Renjun’s forehead in response.

“Crazy,” Jeno simply said. “I guess the tension and awkwardness was too much, huh?”

“You can say that again,” Donghyuck chuckled, Renjun shaking his head before moving to put his cheek on the younger boy’s shoulder.

“Some people will say that falling in love during the apocalypse is stupid,” Kun noted. “But I think it’s quite sweet that even through all the chaos you can find someone who you want to share that time with.”

Jeno and Jaemin observed Renjun and Donghyuck. How close they were.

Jeno thought about how Jaemin acted when he returned. The hug that felt so natural they could do it all the time.

It felt stupid to Jaemin, how he grew to feel about the boy sitting to his right.

But when he felt Jeno’s hand on his knee, and YangYang’s eyes on them with a face that said, _too bad they haven’t noticed yet,_ Jaemin wanted to fall into Jeno’s arms and forget about everything.

So he did. But it wasn’t to Jeno’s surprise. In fact, Jeno welcomed him open arms. Renjun and Donghyuck looked over and smiled to themselves, then at each other.

“It _is_ stupid, isn’t it?” Jaemin teased, with a tiny grin on his face. Jeno’s laugh filled his ears and he knew he wanted to hear that laugh for a while.

“Quite stupid. But it _is_ sweet,” Jeno replied. Kun looked at them and rolled his eyes with a smile on his face.

Jaemin chuckled. Felt Jeno kiss his temple.

It was stupid. But it was sweet.

\--

“When do you think we’ll be able to go out and get food next?” Yuta asked Taeyong, his hands resting on the dining table.

“Hmm, I’m not sure,” the redhead replied, tapping his chin. “We’re definitely running out of the stuff.” He began pacing back and forth in the kitchen. It was mid-afternoon, and the entire morning was spent clearing up dead walkers that Sicheng had to kill during his time on lookout, which there were quite a few, and the morning only brought a few more to kill.

_“Staying in this house, I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to deal with these fucking things!” Johnny said as he stabbed one in the eye and kicked it off the front porch with as much force as possible._

_“I know, right? Half of my brain is like, you’re safe out here! Then the other half remembers they can really come out of fucking nowhere!” Sicheng replied, swinging a knife at another one approaching him. Taeil, Doyoung, Yuta and Ten were there helping them as Taeyong made sure the rest of the house was guarded, alongside Xiao Jun and Renjun who offered to help._

_“There are more coming up the back! We’ll go deal with them!” Lucas called out to the small group out front as he, Mark, Hendery, Jeno and Donghyuck ran to the back. Kun stayed behind with the others and made sure they were safe._

_Such a short amount of time to learn how to effectively work as a team._

The group were thankful that it wasn’t a giant mob.

“I don’t think many places out there have things left over. It’s probably all been gutted,” Sicheng mentioned, putting a cigarette between his lips. “Who’s got a lighter?”

“Borrow mine,” Donghyuck called, throwing his lighter to the older male, who caught it with ease and thanked him.

“I hate to say it, you’re probably right,” Taeyong responded, an awkward expression on his face as he bit the corners of his lips.

“Have we been to both ends of the open road yet?” Lucas asked, arms folded as he sat at the kitchen table. The guys who were in the kitchen exchanged looks, thinking about it.

“Now that you mention it…” Yuta began, scratching his jaw.

Sicheng stood beside him and lit the cigarette before noticing everyone’s eyes on him, “I’m going! I’m going!” He headed out back and began smoking his cigarette.

“I don’t think we have yet, have we?” Taeyong openly asked, though the question was mostly directed to Taeil who had just entered the kitchen.

“What’s that?” Taeil asked, looking around. Taeyong filled him in and the older male knitted his eyebrows in thought. “Hmm, don’t think we have actually. I know we’ve been down…” He pointed to his right. _“...That_ end. But the other end?” he wondered, using the same hand to point to the left.

“Some of us came from that end, we should try going back there!” Renjun proposed from the living room.

“Renjun may have a point, I mean I came from that end too,” Taeyong added.

“As did I,” Yuta nodded.

The leader sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Then a sudden thought popped into his head as he eyed the scar on Yuta’s arm. “Hey...Yuta?”

Looking back up at him, Yuta straightened his back and said, “Yeah?”

“Your arm...you got that from a glass shard right? A car?”

“Oh,” Yuta started, looking down at his arm briefly, “yeah, I mean, you all know what happened. Didn’t realise the guy was a walker and had to fight my way out.”

“But, you left a car behind!” Taeyong replied, and Yuta caught onto what he was saying.

“You think we should go see if the car’s still out there?” Lucas wondered.

“I mean, it can’t hurt to look right?” the redhead hinted.

And that’s what lead a small group of them to go out onto the open road and walk down it until they could see the car.

A few yards down, something came into view. Yuta placed a hand above his eyes to block out the sun above to try and see it better before exclaiming, “I think that’s it!”

Without further hesitation, Yuta, Taeyong, Taeil and Lucas ran towards what they finally saw was the car that Yuta had left behind.

Glass shards were still scattered over the ground, and inside, the rotting corpse of the walker that attacked Yuta was still in the driver’s seat.

“Jesus, that’s fucking creepy,” Taeyong shuddered.

“Careful, there’s still glass everywhere,” Yuta warned them.

They crept around the shards as much as possible in an attempt to get closer. Lucas noticed small bits of dried blood on the passenger’s side and winced as he got nearer.

“I wonder if anyone’s come by and noticed it then taken all of it,” Taeil said.

“Don’t wanna put a dampener on it, but it seems likely,” admitted Taeyong.

He lived by his word that it didn’t hurt to look, nonetheless.

They covered their noses and mouths. _“Shit!_ That smell is disgusting!” Lucas shouted behind his hand.

“Just...keep pushing forward,” Yuta told them. He approached the boot of the car and tried to see if it would open. “It’s still locked.” He crouched down as much as he could without cutting himself further and looked to see if there were any signs of people trying to pry it open. There were a few scratches and dents. “Hard to tell if this is someone’s doing or if this just a part of the car itself.”

The other three joined him as Yuta stood. “How are we gonna open this?” Lucas wondered.

“Does he have any keys on him?” Taeyong looked at the other three. Eventually, Lucas gave in and decided he would go and check.

Slowly, he moved around the side of the car, avoiding the glass shards as best as he could. He kept breathing heavily, not wanting to get injured at all. The passenger door was open and he bent down to look inside, constantly grimacing at the putrid scent of the walker.

In the ignition, he saw some keys. “He does!”

“Great! Can you get to them?” Taeil asked.

 _‘I can try.’_ He wondered if he could stomach it, but quickly realised he had no choice. It wasn’t just about him anymore. Lucas knew he had others to think about.

Reaching forward as best as he could, trying not to touch the corpse, or the blood that surrounded him, he attempted to grab the keys, and was so close but could barely touch them.

“Climb in a little further!” Yuta called out to him.

Lucas looked down and discovered he had to put his knee on the seat if he had any shot at getting those keys, and quite frankly, it wasn’t what he wanted to do.

But again, he knew he had no choice.

There was a sharp intake of breath as Lucas rested his knee on the seat and climbed in further. The walker was beyond dead, but there was still a tiny bit of anxiety that crept up from the pit of Lucas’ stomach at the thought of it coming alive and grabbing onto his arm and biting the ever-loving shit out of him.

It would be _just_ what he needed.

With a tiny push, he managed to just grab hold of the keys. The next task was getting them out.

Then, a distant noise could be heard. Except this wasn’t the noise of a single walker or several walkers.

In fact, they were distant _voices._ Distinct voices that the three standing at the rear of the car could quite rapidly pick out in mere seconds.

“Um...Lucas? Could you hurry up? We’re hearing someone approaching?” Taeyong cautioned in the loudest voice he could manage through gritted teeth.

“Walkers?” Lucas answered back.

“Nope...people.”

Something clicked at that point and Lucas launched himself forward to pull the keys out as fast as possible before getting out of the car and throwing them to Taeil, who caught them and began finding the correct key. Under pressure, it took him a few seconds, but once he found it, he instantly opened the boot and, in front of them, was a small stash.

Mostly tinned vegetables and other canned food that the driver clearly knew would be best in an apocalypse because it wouldn’t go bad as quickly.

Lucas took off his backpack and, with Taeil’s help, they threw the contents of the boot into the bag and zipped it up. They didn’t have time to think about the morals or the ethics of the situation; they just knew they had to get out of there.

In a hurry, Taeil shut the boot, but it was so loud that the people getting nearer could hear.

Throwing the bag onto his back, Lucas began running and Taeil followed, with Taeyong and Yuta behind them.

“Oi! Pricks! That’s our stuff!” one of the voices yelled at them. That’s when Taeyong noticed. He was the _first_ to notice.

Both guys sprinting in their direction had guns on them.

“Shit, keep running!” the redhead shouted at the other three.

Suddenly, they heard gunshots, and kept narrowly missing them as they didn’t stop until they were back at the house.

“Dickheads! Give us back our food!” the other voice yelled. Another gunshot, and this time, it hit one of the windows and skimmed Jaemin’s right arm by his shoulder.

 _“Fuck!”_ Jaemin cried as he fell to the floor. Kun caught him, and Jeno, Jungwoo and Mark appeared at his side as the four who had just arrived back in the house ran into the kitchen.

“Everybody _get down!”_ Taeyong yelled at all of them as he took his gun out of his bag. The others followed instructions as Doyoung joined him, gun in hand.

“You will give us back what you’ve stolen, right now!”

The two outside were holding their guns up and were standing just outside the door at the bottom of the stairs. “Come out, now! We know you’re in there!”

Inside, Kun held onto Jaemin tightly as the young boy kicked and screamed into his shoulder. The others around him felt helpless until Kun told Jeno to fetch some water.

“Where did the bullet go?” Mark whispered. He turned then saw it went into the back of the sofa, before crawling towards it. He didn’t want to dig it out, but sat by it so that he wouldn’t forget to tell them all.

If they were going to make it out of this _alive._

“Stay the fuck away! How do we know that shit was really yours?” Taeyong shouted through the door.

Jeno gave Kun the water, his hands shaking as he knelt beside Jaemin. “You’re gonna be okay…” he whispered to the frightened boy who couldn’t stop writhing around due to the pain.

“Keep still,” Kun said sternly, while somehow managing to not sound angry at all.

“Kee-Keep still, Jaemin…” Jeno stuttered, his tone of voice gentle yet absolutely petrified.

"I-I'm gonna die...I'm gonna _die!"_ he stammered.

"N-N-No! No you're not!" Jeno tried to keep his voice down.

"We saw it there first!" one voice from outside shouted, his hand firmly on the trigger.

"Does it belong to you?" Doyoung asked in a rhetorical fashion.

"Of course it does! We saw it! We own it!"

"But you didn't have it to begin with! How long were you gone from the truck?" Taeyong shouted back at him. Both him and Doyoung kept their guns firmly aimed at the door, hoping deep down that they _wouldn't_ have to use them.

The argument continued as Kun rolled Jaemin's sleeve up to reveal the graze left by the bullet brushing past him.

"Fuck…" Jeno muttered to himself. Jungwoo looked around at the others, feeling totally powerless.

Jaemin had to refrain from screaming out loud but it was proving to be difficult.

Kun tried to deal with the issue himself but found he needed help. Knew that Jungwoo wouldn't be able to. Neither would Jeno. Mark seemed preoccupied with the bullet hole. Couldn't ask the other teenagers to do it.

At that point, Jaehyun appeared in front of them, "We still had some bandages left over." Jaehyun had a knife in one hand and was cutting a piece off to help clean the wound and put pressure on it. "Jeno, I...I know this will be hard but...please help calm him down," he requested at a slow pace.

Kun continued to hold the wounded boy close as Jeno took a deep breath. He then cupped Jaemin's face, "Hey… Hey, look at me." Jaemin met his eyes, tears glued to his cheeks. "Keep your eyes on me. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, okay?" Jeno tried to keep calm for Jaemin's sake, and as much as the younger boy could, he relaxed into the older boy's touch and tried doing what he was saying.

The first few breaths were shaky, as Jaemin breathed in through the nose and out through the mouth gradually. It felt hard to do something so simple as fill his lungs with air then let go again, but he tried with everything he had.

"That's good Jaem... keep going. Keep breathing, you're gonna be okay."

With every splash of water to Jaemin's wound it was a sharp sting that made him hiss. Jaehyun reassured that it was just a graze and that it wasn't a deep wound to be worried about as he cleaned it up and set about wrapping a bandage around his arm.

In the hallway, the tension grew.

"Look, I don't give a fuck if you have five, fifty or five _hundred_ people in there! You can't just take shit from us!"

The two men were making their way up the stairs. The creaks seemed to be so loud that Taeyong and Doyoung could hear it.

"Stay right where you fucking are! Don't come through this door!" Doyoung shouted.

The older males kept their eye on what was going on as they made sure the younger ones were okay. They all huddled together in the living room, Ten, Sicheng, Kun and Jaehyun being the main overseers.

"You've got some fucking nerve!" Yuta suddenly shouted. "You didn't own that shit before! Okay, _we_ did!"

Taeyong and Doyoung stared at him, wondering what the fuck he was doing.

"Oh yeah, and how so?" one of the voices asked.

"Because I was in that car!"

The others in the house did _not_ think it was going to work.

"Bullshit! Prove it!" the other one retaliated.

Taeyong and Doyoung shook their heads before the former said, "We don't need to prove shit to you!"

"Yeah! How about you prove to us you were coming back for it!" Johnny yelled.

"What were you going away for?" Taeil asked.

"Why did you leave it behind?" Doyoung wondered.

"How did you not notice the keys in the ignition?" Yuta fired.

"Did you even know the car was there?" Lucas called.

The series of questions left the two men outside silent. Until the only thing they could mutter was, "Still our stuff!"

"I think that's a load of bullshit! I suggest you leave _now!"_ Taeyong yelled at them. 

The two men _knew_ they had been caught out.

But, they were still curious about what the deal was in the house.

Climbing the stairs slowly, one of them opened the door to find the six who interrogated them standing in the hallway.

They began to laugh, until one by one, every other person (apart from Kun, Jeno and Jaemin), walked into the hallway.

"And there's still three people in there. One of them's injured. Thanks to you," Jaehyun pointed at the two of them.

Their sheer size still proved to be intimidating as the pair backed away, tripped down the stairs, then scrambled to their feet and ran.

Taeyong stepped forward and shut the door dramatically before turning around.

"So... what's for dinner?"

The others couldn't help but stare, before some of them started chuckling.

"The two of them had never seen that car in their _lives,"_ Yuta said, scratching his head. "They thought they could get away with the _we saw it first_ when they did everything you just wouldn't do when you think there's a whole stash of food in a car. Like...leave it totally unattended."

"Everyone for themselves as they say," said Johnny. "And we are...twenty-one for themselves."

They chuckled, but when they went back into the living room, it died down immediately.

"Hey, Jaemin? You okay?" Taeyong asked, approaching him and sitting down on the floor beside Mark, who nudged him and showed him where the bullet went. The redhead pulled it out of the sofa and muttered, "Motherfuckers… You're okay, though, right?" His full attention was on Jaemin, who was now leaning against Jeno with Kun on his left.

The teenager stared back at him and nodded, silent out of shock. Taeyong rested a hand on his shin, "It's gonna be alright. It's not a serious injury, thank fuck."

"Yeah, thank fuck," Jeno added, more stone-faced as he held on Jaemin's hand tightly and didn't let go.

The others watched quietly as the leader stood and exhaled.

As he turned his back, Jaemin spoke, "At least we won't go hungry tonight."

Taeyong smiled then looked back at him. Saw him and Jeno holding hands.

Bittersweet.

\--

"Thirteenth day people," Hendery said, tapping a beat on the kitchen counter as Kun made them the tiniest of breakfasts: soup. There were three cans and Kun didn't know how he was going to share it out between all of them.

 _Just put it in the biggest bowl you can find and we'll just eat two or three spoonfuls each directly from it,_ Ten had joked, although Kun thought that it would have to be how they _actually_ end up eating it.

"Meant to be an unlucky day, right?" Kun mumbled.

"Don't jinx it!" Xiao Jun told him as he sat at the dining table.

The thirteenth day wasn't unlucky at all.

It happened to be one of their quietest days.

There were a few walkers they had to deal with and the more they inspected to house the more wary they grew of the fact that it was slowly falling apart and Taeyong smoked his first cigarette in days just to try and relieve stress which he still couldn't figure out if it was helping, but nevertheless.

A quieter day.

Boredom in the house reached an all time high by midday when the teenagers decided to lie on the floor and extend their legs into the air and have Jungwoo see whose legs were longest.

Yuta and Sicheng watched them and laughed among themselves before deciding to join them.

"You're pointing your toes, cheater!" Sicheng nudged Yuta. The teenagers laughed and hearing that noise felt like a breath of fresh air.

A tiny moment of reprieve before the next wave of events akin to the previous day's happenings.

None of what was happening between them made sense to them.

How they came to be? Insane. How Renjun and Donghyuck reunited? A coincidence it seemed. How Jeno and Jaemin clicked and found home holding each other's hands? As Kun described, _what some people would find stupid but is actually quite sweet._

It felt weird to consider themselves _friends,_ even though a few of them were more than that.

It felt weird to call the decrepit building they had no choice but to stay in, home.

It felt weird that this is who they were.

Even as the days passed and they had new challenges to face, the sentiment was still the same, and it never left their minds.

_Whatever we are to one another, I'm so grateful to be around them._

It was dangerous to be so kind, and a part of them knew that.

But as day thirteen became day fourteen in the blink of an eye, they continued to take that risk.


	30. Part 2 | A Brand New Month

Resting his head against the wall as he sat up in bed, Taeyong looked towards the pair of men sleeping on the ground beside one another. It had always been a tight squeeze, and since there was no mattress on the bed in one of the rooms, it was always mostly floor that they had to sleep on.

Badly kept, wooden flooring that had odd nails sticking out here and there and in front of the bathroom there was a whole plank of wood missing. A few of them always wondered how that happened. Notice how it looked to have been ripped up, like it served as an escape route, but none of them saw how pulling up a single plank of wood helped in _any_ way.

 _Probably just how old the place is,_ Johnny concluded. Seemed most likely.

The pair, Ten and Doyoung, slowly moved around in their sleep and began waking up. Doyoung was the first to lift his head, and he looked straight up at Taeyong.

“God...how do we even sleep?” he groaned, rubbing his eyes.

“Fuck knows,” the redhead mumbled.

Doyoung harshly nudged Ten, who reflexively pushed him away before getting up himself.

“Always be careful of the nails, guys,” Taeyoung reminded them, the two younger men nodding. Glancing over to the right, nearer the window, Taeyong saw the other duo who slept in that room with him, Johnny and Jaehyun, start to wake up.

The mornings were getting warmer; they knew July was approaching.

In the next room, Yuta and Sicheng yawned as they sat on the floor, playing an endless game of rock, paper, scissors just to keep themselves occupied. Taeil then entered the room, having finished his lookout shift. They all exchanged looks and nodded at one another, before the eldest sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his forehead. Picking up the vodka bottle on the floor, he took a quick sip and winced. It began tasting like poison a few days before, and he now deemed it undrinkable, putting it back on the old, cracked hardwood.

In the third room were Lucas, Mark and Jungwoo, Jungwoo having moved to sleep in the bedroom a few days prior since saying he no longer liked sleeping downstairs. It terrified him too much.

None of them knew what the time was, but guessed it was just before midday due to the position of the sun. It became a lot easier to do that, now they were so used to that being their only way of telling the time.

Standing in the hallway upstairs, the group of men who slept in the bedrooms all greeted each other, yawning one after the other as it was so contagious.

Suddenly, Ten looked up at Doyoung, “You smell like shit.”

Sicheng scoffed a laugh and had to suppress it. Doyoung stared right back at him.

“Go figures, we _all_ do, Ten.”

“Yeah, hint hint, zombie apocalypse?” Yuta said.

Ten looked towards the bathroom, “Why have we never checked the bathroom?”

“We _have,_ there’s nothing in there,” Mark explained, rubbing his eyes and trying to mask his tiredness.

“Honestly though, we’re in the middle of the apocalypse and being _clean_ is your main concern?” Johnny asked.

“Well, let’s face it. Poor hygiene could lead to a higher risk of infections!”

“We’ve survived this apocalypse for six months and you’re _now_ worried about hygiene?” Jaehyun inquired.

“Better late than never!” Ten glanced around at the ten other faces looking at him, either with small grins on their faces at his proposal, or laughter they were trying to suppress.

“I think Ten’s right y’know!” Kun suddenly called from the bottom of the stairs. Ten walked to the top of the stairs then turned to the others.

“See? Thank you, Kun!”

“Oh joy, they see eye to eye on something,” Sicheng joked under is breath, which some of the others heard and chortled at.

Ten was one of those people, “That’s not a rare occurrence!”

“What are they saying?” Kun shouted.

“That we hardly agree on things!” Ten answered, looking back at him. They both put their hands on their hips and tutted, and even the teenagers downstairs couldn’t help but laugh at the exchange and how the two of them seemed offended.

“I think it’s high time we all cleaned ourselves up!” Kun announced to everyone in the house as the eleven guys upstairs made their way down the steps and into the living room.

“We don’t even have any soap, or anything. How the hell are we gonna clean ourselves?” Lucas questioned.

“We may not have soap, but water does a pretty good job in at least making you look a little nicer,” Kun said, nodding once.

“You _do_ realise that the stream out there has since become unusable and we don’t know the current state of our new water source,” Johnny reminded him. The stream had become unusable the previous day, when they went outside to find a walker with no legs crawling towards it. They tried to stop it but the walker reached the edge of the stream before they could shoot it.

Kun tried his hardest to get through, but Taeyong rejected the idea, “To be honest, we don’t know what’s gonna come our way. We might have to cover ourselves in walker shit to get through a whole crowd of them. We’re gonna get covered in more blood, dirt and other kinds of disgusting stuff. We can wash our hands and faces, sure, and I do see what you’re saying but...it’s just not worth it for what we might have to do in the next few days.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Kun replied, “Well, fine. I understand that. But yes, we should all wash our hands and faces, at _least.”_

Taeyong nodded along, and in small groups of three, they each took turns going to their main water source with a bottle and using it to clean themselves a little.

It wasn’t a lot, but they found both Kun and Ten were right: it did make a _huge_ difference.

\--

“Rock, paper, scissors, with twenty-one people I _don’t_ think is gonna work, Hyuck,” Renjun said to him, one eyebrow raised.

“Sure it will! Let’s all sit in a circle and try,” Donghyuck replied.

“What’s this?” Xiao Jun spoke up. Renjun explained to him Donghyuck’s idea, but to Renjun’s surprise, Xiao Jun was all for the idea. “That sounds cool! Let’s do it. Everyone!”

Renjun covered his face with one hand while his boyfriend, partner, other half, whatever the term it was they were using, wore a smug grin on his face.

Slowly, the rest of the group filed into the living room to see what was going on. The teenagers who were already in the lounge, started forming a circle and beckoned the older guys to join them.

“What’s going on?” Jaehyun asked, his eyebrows knitted together.

“We’re playing rock, paper, scissors with twenty-one people,” Chenle told him.

“You sure that’s gonna work?” Johnny spoke up.

“Who knows but hey, it’s for shits and giggles,” Jeno answered.

Johnny and Jaehyun briefly looked at one another before they joined the circle.

“Okay so...how are we gonna make this work?” Taeyong asked Renjun, who then pointed to Donghyuck to signify it was _his_ bright idea.

“Well, it’s just like doing it with two players, except if all three are showing, then we go again, right?” They all nodded in unison. “But if it’s only _two,_ for example rock and scissors, then those holding up rock wins! And then that group play and so on and so forth until we have a winner!”

“But there are so many of us, we could be here all day!” Taeil stated.

“And so we will be until the inevitable happens,” Donghyuck replied. Taeil chuckled and shook his head; he couldn’t believe this kid sometimes.

“Okay, guess we’re starting,” Jaemin said, preparing himself.

 Everyone held one hand behind their backs and at the same time said _rock, paper, scissors!_

Checking everyone’s hands, they saw that all three gestures were being shown. They did it again. And again. One more time.

“Ha! Paper beats rock!” Johnny shouted.

Johnny, Ten, Lucas, Chenle, Jeno, YangYang, Jisung, Jaehyun, Doyoung and Mark all played paper, while the rest played rock. The ten of them move closer and prepared themselves again while the others spectated.

Once, twice, three times, four…

“Scissors beats paper!” Chenle called out. He, Jaehyun, Johnny and Mark all played scissors, meaning it was just the four of them.

They began playing again when there was some loud banging on the door. Mark jumped back, as did some others, while some of them stood up to slowly walk out in the hallway.

The banging got louder, and louder, or it seemed to.

“Who’s there?” Taeyong called out to whoever was behind the door. He took a deep breath when he noticed that the knocking wouldn’t stop.

Suddenly, the door swung open and a body fell onto the floor. Their screams were loud and they were almost gargling blood as they crawled across the wood.

 _“Help...me!”_ they screamed, clawing at the planks as Taeyong backed up.

“Someone grab something, quick!” he yelled.

“Someone... _he...lp...me…”_ It seemed as though the walker had just turned, as it suddenly clung on Taeyong’s ankle for dear life with the last bit of human strength they had.

 _“Please!_ I don’t...want to be...one of _them…!”_

“Get off me!” Taeyong screamed falling onto the floor.

It was a woman, long dark hair with only one hand, the other having been cut off.

The younger males were protected by Kun and Ten, covering their faces, while Johnny approached with a knife and began repeatedly stabbing it in the head.

Jungwoo, watched, mortified. The others could barely look. Mark sat, covering his ears as the same noises from before took over again. He felt his eyes brimming with tears as some of the others observed him.

“Get out, get out, get out,” Mark repeated over and over. Lucas moved closer to him, wanting to understand what was going on as Johnny finished killing the walker.

Taeyong let his head fall back onto the floor as the walker’s grasp suddenly became loose and its hand was quickly taken off his ankle.

“Jesus, _fuck!”_ Johnny screamed, throwing the knife to the floor.

Gradually, Mark slowly looked up at the walker lying on the hallway floor. The noise started to dissipate and he removed his hands from his ears.

“Are you okay, Taeyong?” Taeil asked urgently, approaching him and holding out his hand to lift him up off the floor.

“Yeah, I’m… ooh boy…” He rubbed his forehead, then ran a hand through his hair. “I’m okay,” he said, resting his hand on Taeil’s shoulder. His eyes then found Mark’s still form.

“It was so _loud,”_ Mark muttered, before Lucas wrapped an arm around him. They all walked back into the living room.

Taeyong, his eyes still fixed on Mark, said, “Someone get that walker out this house, please.”

Yuta stepped forward to do so and was back within minutes.

Mark glanced up at Taeyong, “Are you okay?” The redhead nodded, more concerned about the younger boy.

“Are you?”

“I...I will be…”

It was quiet for a few seconds, until Jungwoo said, “The noise.”

Everyone’s eyes, apart from Mark’s, turned to him.

“The noise,” the blonde repeated. “It’s too much for him. He can’t deal with so much noise he’s...he’s sensitive to it.”

Their eyes fell on Mark again.

Mark felt someone hold his hand. Jungwoo.

He then saw the others surround him.

The walker was a distant memory to them. Especially to Taeyong.

\--

The smoke filled the warm afternoon air as Johnny exhaled, holding the cigarette between his index and middle finger. The fourteenth day had quickly passed after the event involving the walker and had soon become the fifteenth day.

He thought long and hard about everything that had happened since he came here. A blessing, yet it almost felt like a curse at that time.

He let out a tiny laugh. Inhaled once more. Let the smoke filter out into the sky.

“Hey,” a sudden small voice from behind said. Turning around, he saw YangYang standing there.

“Oh hey, YangYang. Come and sit down, enjoy the air, at least what’s left of it.”

YangYang hummed and sat down on the chair beside him. His stitches were almost completely gone, and he could walk a lot more freely now.

Suddenly, he pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. Johnny noticed him out of the corner of his eye put the cigarette in his mouth and light the end. YangYang coughed a little, but then caught Johnny’s gaze, “Yeah?”

“Are you _sure_ you wanna do that?”

YangYang stared at the cigarette for a brief second before shrugging and taking another hit of it. Johnny shook his head, “Oh dear…”

He was then caught red-handed.

“Uh, excuse me?” Kun said upon seeing him. He looked towards Johnny who held his hands up defensively and turned away. “Who gave you that?”

YangYang muttered under his breath, “Okay, it was Jaemin. Look! I’m not too much younger than him! Why do you never stop him when he smokes? Or any of the others who are literally only several months older than me.”

“Yeah, Kun,” Jaemin added out of nowhere, stepping outside to join, cigarette in his mouth.

“I- You two-- You--” Kun tried to protest but groaned loudly instead and went back inside. Jaemin and YangYang laughed as the former lit the end of his cigarette and began smoking.

“Bad influences,” Johnny then said. The two teenagers didn’t know how to respond.

“Chenle and Jisung better not touch it though!” Kun shouted from the kitchen.

That was something they could all agree on.

\--

“I wish we had like a forecast of things that were to come,” Hendery commented as he reshuffled the cards and dealt them out between him, Xiao Jun, Renjun, Donghyuck, Chenle and Jisung. It was evening time.

“Every day is so unpredictable, we never know what’s gonna happen,” Renjun added. They all hummed in agreement as they picked up their two cards and Hendery placed the rest of them face down in the centre of the dining table.

“It’s hard being out in the middle of nowhere too,” Chenle muttered. “We can never see what’s coming properly.”

“True,” Donghyuck sighed. “And when we _can_ finally see it, it’s when the walkers are literally right on top of us and our bursting through our door wanting to eat us all alive.” He noticed how everyone’s faces fell. “...Sorry.”

Renjun placed a hand on his hand.

“Do you think we’ll ever leave this place?” Jisung asked them, in a voice so quiet they could barely hear it.

They all thought about it. “Maybe. Maybe we won’t,” Hendery finally answered. “Again, it’s so unpredictable. We might have no choice but to leave one day.”

“I’ll be sad the day that happens,” Jisung admitted. “I kinda like it here, it’s better than being out there in the open where anything can find you…”

Taeyong overheard their conversation as he stood beside Taeil.

“Do _you_ think we’ll ever leave this place?” Taeil asked him, then turned to him. “Answer me honestly.”

“I’m with Hendery. We might not have a say in the matter. We already decided we weren’t gonna leave of our own accord. Perhaps we’ll just get...pushed out by something.”

Taeyong then shrugged before they stood in silence for a few seconds.

“You know how you said it was your birthday the day before you came here?” Taeyong then asked the older male.

“Yeah.”

“It’s mine in two days.”

Taeil turned to him. They gazed at one another. “How long did it take for you to work that one out?”

“Only a short while.”

“But that means…”

“My birthday’s on the 1st July. Yeah. First day of the month and all that shit.” Taeil raised his eyebrows. “But again, a celebratory event is hardly worth celebrating when it’s all going to hell around you.” He turned to leave the living room. “Hey, I think your poetic side is rubbing off on me.”

Taeil chuckled and nudged him before they both left the living room.

Day fifteen would soon become day sixteen. It would soon be one day until the 1st July.

Until Taeyong’s birthday.

\--

“Why do you reckon there are walkers who run?” Lucas openly asked, lying across the sofa with his head on the arm.

“That’s a good question,” Jaehyun replied, sitting on the opposite sofa. “I’ve never considered it before. I mean I know it was a shock to all of us when I came here.”

“Yeah, that was the first time any of us had been exposed to runners,” Taeil chimed in.

“Do you think it’s an advanced mutation of the infection?” Renjun offered. “Like...it gives them that ability to run when usually walkers would be really slow?”

“Perhaps it is, I mean, runners seem to be more aware of their surroundings than walkers. They sense more than their walker counterparts,” Kun stated.

“You make a good point,” Ten nodded, eating some of the snacks they had left over.

“Runners are terrifying,” Jeno said, moving to sit on the sofa Lucas was lying on. He tried to get the older male to budge, but he wouldn’t, so Jeno took to sitting on his shins until Lucas relented and sat up. Jaemin came to join him.

“I saw some runners once, they’re really scary!” Chenle added.

“Gotta be quick when faced with those things, they could really come out of nowhere,” Sicheng told all of them. They talked through how they could be better prepared for walkers, when a sudden thought popped into Kun’s mind.

“We need to go back out for more food supplies at some point.”

Yuta stood up straight and folded his arms, “Are we gonna magic some food out of thin air or some shit?”

Glaring at him, Kun said, _“No,_ of course not. But we do need to go and search for more food. We’re running out again.”

“He _is_ right,” said Donghyuck.

Taeyong ruffled his hair, “Okay, tomorrow. We’ll go out and look for more food tomorrow, cool?”

“On your birthday?” Kun replied. Taeyong eyed the floor as everyone stared at him.

“It’s your birthday tomorrow?” Yuta asked him. Taeyong looked up at him and nodded. “Wait, what day’s your birthday?”

“1st July.”

There were wide eyes everywhere as they all processed the fact that they were about to enter a new month.

“Damn...I guess knowing Taeil’s birthday really _did_ help us out,” Sicheng said.

“Not wrong about that,” Hendery mumbled.

Taeyong looked at Kun again. “Yes. On my birthday.”

Kun smiled in response. It was a friendly smile, and Taeyong returned it.

Everyone else watched the exchange happen.

“Well, for whenever it becomes a new day, happy birthday, leader,” Kun said, teasing slightly. Taeyong chuckled before Kun turned to Taeil.

“Oh and, happy birthday to you for the 14th.”

Taeil glanced over, surprised he remembered the date. Smiling once again, Kun nodded once and Taeil did the same.

The full moon was shining brightly that night; it was Taeyong’s turn on lookout.

He lifted his cigarette to the sky.

 _‘Happy birthday to me.’_ Sarcastic. 

He chuckled. Inhaled. Let the smoke rise above the moon.


	31. Part 2 | The Plan

"Ain't birthdays weird?" Taeyong asked Johnny as they stood at the front of the house. While it was incredibly warm, the sky was overcast, and with each day that passed there were more and more grey skies.

Johnny hummed, "Very. Especially now."

Taeyong raised his eyebrows slightly before looking up to the sky and breathing out.

Day seventeen.

Behind them, the front door opened to reveal Doyoung and Kun. The duo stepped out onto the front porch and Taeyong and Johnny turned to face them.

"Hey," Doyoung greeted them, sounding a little deflated. Or maybe a little bored. The pair sitting down couldn't tell, but they noticed their expressions; the redhead asked what was wrong.

"Food. We should go out and find some more before the sun goes down."

Johnny turned his attention to the clouds and found he couldn't exactly tell where the sun was or how far into the day they were.

"Jaehyun reckons it's well past midday," Kun stated, kicking at the wooden deck beneath him. "He thinks we should just do it now to save all of the stress later when we find it's too late to leave the house."

Taeyong and Johnny exchanged looks before the former sighed, "He's right. We should."

\--

The four of them left the house to find some food. The others were surprised that Kun decided to join them, considering he had never been with them to do something like this before, given how he felt towards killing walkers.

"I still stand by my opinion on the matter. But...I thought it would be good if I joined you."

They had left Taeil at the house to watch over the rest of the group.

Deciding to go in the opposite direction to the one they would usually go, they, after some time, found themselves at the other end of the long winding road.

When they looked at the town in front of them, they were completely floored.

"Holy...fuck…" Taeyong whispered to himself.

"Jesus Christ," Yuta echoed.

The town was torn apart, desolate from top to bottom, with not a single sign of life anywhere. All they could see was dust, dirt, blood, corpses, and a few stray walkers milling about here and there, looking for fresh food to eat.

Even in a short amount of time, so much had changed; it was too much for some of them to handle.

"God, fuck, I think I'm gonna be--" Taeyong almost keeled over as he crossed his arms over his stomach and braced himself for the inevitable. The others stepped back and winced as Taeyong wiped his mouth; straightening his back, he apologised.

"Nah it's... it's cool," Doyoung reassured him, patting his back, grimacing all the while.

“Let’s just go and find some food,” Taeyong said flatly. He moved to the front of the group and led them through the streets, the polluted air surrounding them.

\--

They all knew the house was slowly falling apart. All twenty-one of them staying there meant that the already decrepit house had become even _more_ run down.

“You know it’s not safe to stay here, right?” Jaehyun told Taeil as they stood in the hallway.

Exhaling, Taeil folded his arms and stared at the floor, hoping it would somehow give him a way to respond to Jaehyun. 

“The house is...it’s falling apart at the seams, Taeil. One wrong move and it’s going down for good.”

The two of them met eyes and Taeil ran a hand through his hair. 

“I...I know. Taeyong reckons that we won’t leave off our own accord but instead we’ll be pushed out by something,” Taeil explained, using the redhead’s words as his own defence.

“Yeah, we will. The house itself,” Sicheng chimed in as he came down the stairs. Suddenly, they all heard a squeak. “Are you hearing that?” Sicheng pointed at the step beneath his feet in shock.

“It’s just a creaky wooden step,” Taeil told him, hand on hip in slight disbelief.

“Yeah, but it’s basically happening everywhere in the house. One of these days we’re gonna run upstairs and fall through the floor,” Sicheng replied, folding his arms.

In the living room, the teenagers could hear their conversation.

“Are they really talking about us leaving the house?” Jisung asked the others, growing increasingly more worried.

“They definitely seem to be,” Jeno said honestly. They all turned their heads to the trio standing out in the hallway, then saw Yuta join them.

“It’s also getting harder to use the stuff in this house. Our only light source died days ago. This house is becoming more of a hazard,” declared Yuta.

“Remember when Ten came up with the idea of getting us all to move from one place to another, and we were all pretty much against it?” Taeil caught everyone’s attention. “This place is basically a home to us now, we have _shelter,_ we have a place to stay!”

Yuta sighed, “Yeah, but, the longer we stay here, this place is gonna kill us faster!” The younger male turned his back to go to the kitchen.

Taeil rubbed his face before clasping a hand over his mouth.

Ten, who stood in between Yuta and Taeil, looked back and forth between the two of them.

His eyes finally landed on Taeil and the older male gazed back at him.

Feeling everyone’s eyes on him, Taeil folded his arms before breaking eye contact with Ten and pacing back and forth in the hallway.

In those few seconds, he made a decision and came to a stop, facing the door.

“If we’re gonna leave…”

Everybody exchanged looks, some surprised, some relieved, some terrified.

Taeil turned to face them.

“We’re going to need to think of a plan. Of where we’re gonna go. We can’t just leave and go out there, we have no idea what it’s like. And while we’ve all been through some...fucked up shit, we have the teenagers to think about. The ones who are probably more scared than the rest of us put together. But we also need to wait for the other four to come back.”

“I love and respect your energy, but something tells me all four of them aren’t going to like this,” stated Ten from the living room.

“And you’re probably right in saying that,” Taeil admitted, looking at him. “But you are also right about another thing: we _do_ need to think about the state of this place. It was definitely a rash decision to make in the moment, but upon thinking about it…” A sigh left his lips. A defenseless sigh that let the others standing in front of him know he felt cornered. “It’s the best decision. For all of us.”

\--

The topic of leaving the house was a tricky one to bring up, but Taeil knew he had no choice but to do it sooner rather than later. As they all sat, eating from their small bowl of beans, Taeil decided on how he was going to break the ice and start the conversation.

The four who returned noticed something different about the atmosphere in the house when they came back, but decided not to question it, until Johnny realised that whatever was going on, it was causing the entire group to be completely _silent_ at dinner, which had never happened before.

“Okay, is someone going to tell us what’s going on?”

Immediately, Taeil looked up, followed by Jaehyun, and the two exchanged looks before nervously glancing back down at their food.

“No? Because something is _clearly_ wrong and not one of you are telling us. And by _us,_ I mean me, Taeyong, Doyoung and Kun. So spill it.” Johnny directed the last phrase so sternly at Taeil that the older male could feel a pang in his chest.

“Um…” Taeil’s voice was already a little shaky; he imagined that even the mere _mention_ of a plan for them to leave the house would be outright rejected. He tried thinking of the best way to lead the conversation.

“We’ve been thinking…” Taeil shut his eyes as he heard Jaehyun speak, so unbelievably grateful that he took one for the team just like that. “We should make a plan to leave the house.”

Jaehyun spoke so quickly that it seemed like the words went right over the heads of the four people that were supposed to be listening.

“W-Wait...run that by us again?” said Doyoung.

Jaehyun felt the tension reach his shoulders. He looked over to Sicheng to pick up where he left off; the younger male took a deep breath in. Exhaled. Yuta watched him from the right as Jaehyun did from the left.

Sicheng briefly glanced at Yuta before looking back at the four sitting across from them.

The four who looked incredibly confused. Their eyes fell on everyone, trying to get answers, before they inevitably landed back on Sicheng.

“We should...make a plan to leave the house.”

“Are you...joking?” Kun asked, preparing to let out a loud, hysterical laugh, when he realised that they were all being very serious. “You’re...you’re joking, right?”

“No, no we’re not,” said Yuta, bluntly.

Kun glanced over at Doyoung, who looked back at him with the same taken aback expression on his face.

“I’m sorry, were you all here a couple of days ago? We decided we were gonna _stay_ and only leave if we were pushed out by something,” Taeyong reminded them.

“We know that but...this house it’s...it’s going to shit, Taeyong,” Sicheng answered. “It was like that when we first arrived here and with _all of us_ living in this house? It’s too much.”

“Sicheng’s right, we need to make a plan to move forward from this place, keeping everyone in mind,” Yuta added.

“Have you even talked about this with everyone else because I’m pretty sure they all have opinions of their own they’d like to share,” Johnny fired back.

“We wanted to wait until you four were back so we could discuss this as a group,” mentioned Ten.

Doyoung turned to him. “I bet this was _your_ idea,” he accused.

“Um _excuse_ me?”

“Well you were the one who thought of it in the first place!”

“Trust us, Doyoung, he’s not the _only_ one to have thought of that idea,” Sicheng chimed in.

“Yeah, he just thought up the idea that day...on the spot?” said Yuta.

“Oh really? And how long have you all been thinking about this? Well, for the ones that _have_ been thinking about this,” Kun wondered.

One by one, around half of the group raised their hands in the air. Which slowly became most of the group. Which then became all of the group apart from the four who simply sat, bewildered at the fact that this was going on right in front of their eyes.

“You’ve _all_ thought about leaving this place at one point? Even _before_ Ten brought it up?” Kun asked, sceptical.

“Well, I think we’ve all at least wondered what it would be like to leave,” Mark put forward, the others around him nodding. They lowered their hands.

“I don’t believe this-- we’re _safe_ here!” argued Kun.

“But for _how long,_ Kun? How long?” Taeil yelled back, making some of them jump. The two of them stared at one another, like they were having a whole conversation with their eyes.

Taeil inhaled, then exhaled, trying to calm himself down before he became even more irate.

Ten rested a hand on his shoulder. Jaehyun continued the conversation in a much quieter voice.

“While we obviously have to be careful every time we go out there, we have to also realise that we can’t afford to get too comfortable here, which, I think some of us feel like we’ve already done that, _or,_ we’re getting close to doing that.”

“What part of _at least we have shelter_ don’t you get?” Taeyong retorted.

“What part of _if we stay here too much longer this house could literally fall down on us and kill us much quicker_ don’t _you_ get?” Jaehyun retaliated.

The growing tension began to make everyone else feel nervous as some of the younger males cowered away, hiding from the argument that was just about to erupt.

A long, drawn out sigh slipped through Taeyong’s lips as his eyes fluttered shut. He lowered his head and gathered his thoughts. From behind, Doyoung could see the cogs turning in his brain and could sense he was having a change of heart.

“Taeyong...you can’t seriously be thinking…” Doyoung began, but the redhead turned to him.

“We’d only leave if we were pushed out by something… Walkers aren’t the only things that could cause that.”

Sicheng heard what was essentially his own words coming out of Taeyong’s mouth and he looked over to Yuta, who stared back at him with the same facial expression.

“So...that’s it then? We make a plan to leave this place?” Kun asked, worry creeping up from the pit of his stomach.

Taeyong briefly looked towards Kun before standing up and moving over to the doorway of the living room. Turning around, he noticed everyone’s eyes on him. His eyes flickered to the group of now scared teenagers, their faces full of unbridled terror as they come to terms with the fact that they may have to leave the house.

Swallowing the lump that was beginning to form in his throat, he rubbed the nape of his neck and stared at the floor. The wooden planks were wearing away and there were nails and splinters sticking out everywhere. Looking at the ceiling above him, he noticed how many cracks there were; one wrong move upstairs and they would all be done for.

Putting his hands on his hips, he considered his options as quickly as he could, before looking at the group in front of him.

It was at this point he remembered that he was effectively the leader of this group.

Even if a dumb game of rock, paper, scissors decided it, he was still the one that everyone turned to as a leader, even the two that were older than him.

As a leader, he knew he had to make a decision for the safety of his group.

“We’ll leave this place soon. And we’ll start making plans tomorrow.”

\--

“We have no idea of our current location, how do you expect us to make a plan going in _any_ direction?” Lucas argued as they all stood around the kitchen table the following day.

Day eighteen was to be dedicated to planning and nothing else.

Except if walkers got in the way.

“I’m trying to go off my knowledge and what I remember from living back at home. I think we were North facing...at the front...I think…” said Taeyong, the others staring at him, a little surprised.

“That way is _East,_ right?” Johnny asked, as he stood facing the front of the house and pointed to the right. “Or is that West?”

“No, I think that _is_ East,” Yuta scratched his head, standing up straight.

Renjun chimed in, “I think, if I remember correctly, my art school was South facing.”

“Wow, how did you remember _that?”_ Jeno wondered, a little doubtful.

“I don’t know, and I don’t even know if I’m right. Y’know what, don’t listen to me,” said Renjun, holding his hands up and walking away from the table.

“The place I came from was big on orienteering and all that shit,” Jaehyun piped up. “I _think,_ now don’t quote me on it, but I _think_ the base I was staying at, the front of it was...West facing.”

“Did you leave through the front or did you take a different escape route?” Sicheng asked, folding his arms.

“Different escape route. I left through the _back…_ So that’s East, but I also went off to the right, so I went...South! And I kept running through…” Jaehyun spun around a couple of times until he was facing the side of the house nearer the stream. _“That_ forest! Yeah, and then I got to the stream! That means this house is West facing at the front!”

“Yes, Jaehyun!” Johnny cheered from the other side of the table.

“I mean that makes the most sense, right?” Taeil piped up. He stood off to the side to work it out for himself until he came to the same conclusion. “Yeah...that’s gotta be it!”

“So...what’s the _best_ direction for us to go in?” Ten asked.

“North,” Kun suddenly said, and everyone turned to look at him.

“You seem...very confident,” Taeyong raised an eyebrow. Kun stared at him.

“Yes. I think we should head North.” They continued staring, waiting for him to elaborate. “We are south of Seoul right now. If we continue heading North, we have a better chance of reaching Seoul.”

“Oh wait, he’s right,” Johnny agreed. The others nodded; Doyoung pouted a little in thought.

“We should head East too,” he mentioned.

“Any reason?” Taeyong clicked his tongue.

Truthfully, Doyoung didn’t know, but told them he had a gut feeling that he was right in suggesting it.

“You know what? I trust your judgement,” Taeyong replied, surprising Doyoung a little.

“So...North then East?” Jaemin confirmed.

Taeil exhaled, “North then East.”

\--

The sun was already beginning to set. Even though it was summer, the days felt like they were getting shorter already.

They all sat in the living room, waiting for day eighteen to become day nineteen.

In a world filled to the brim with creatures that could tear people apart, it was the moments where they were all sat in the living room that made them remember how nice it felt to have such a large group of people surrounding them.

And how lucky they were to have that.

\--

Despite all of the time that had gone into planning, one thing they hadn’t decided on was when they were going to leave.

Something that Xiao Jun decided to bring up on the afternoon of the nineteenth day after they had finished dealing with another small group of walkers that got a little too close to the house.

“When do you think we’ll go through with the plan?” he asked Hendery, his head upon the younger male’s shoulder.

“Good question,” Hendery answered, before relaying the question to Kun, who said that he also didn’t know. It wasn’t long before another big discussion about _that_ began.

“We could leave tomorrow?” Johnny suggested.

“Too soon! Too soon!” Jungwoo blurted out. When everyone looked at him he then said, “I mean, we’re not completely prepared to leave tomorrow.”

“Fair point…”

“How about in a couple of days' time? So you know, we’re not dragging out our stay here longer than we need to,” Sicheng proposed.

“Wow you really sound like you wanna get out of this place,” said Yuta.

“Only in the sense of I don’t want this house to fall down on us. In a lot of ways it’s been a great place for us to stay. A great place for us to call home, if you will. But again, it’s getting to that point where we need to think of other options.”

“True, true,” Taeil concurred.

“Okay, not tomorrow, not the day after tomorrow...but the day after that?” Chenle wondered.

“Three days?” Taeil asked. Chenle nodded, before the teenagers around him nodded in agreement.

Taeil looked towards the older males and said, “We gotta think about them too.”

“Three days,” Kun said.

After they all exchanged looks, they decided that they were to leave the house in three days time.

The house they called their home.

The house that acted as shelter.

The house that was falling to pieces bit by bit.

There was a melancholy air about the place that evening.

The evening they decided when they were going to leave for good.


	32. Part 2 | Bridges

If someone had told Sicheng six months ago that during the zombie apocalypse he would eventually find himself in a house with twenty other people and that they would all work together in a team, he would not have believed them.

None of them would have believed anyone who'd tell them that, but especially not Sicheng.

They say _when life gives you lemons make lemonade._ But what if those lemons were rotten, mouldy, and about three years old?

The lemonade wouldn't taste so great.

Sicheng laid on the floor of the bedroom he had slept in for the past nearly three weeks and stared at the ceiling. For the first time since he arrived there, he took the time to think about everything.

But that only reminded him of how much it hurt.

He shut his eyes to try and prevent tears from falling but they still pooled around them.

Surviving in a world torn apart by a zombie outbreak presented its challenges.

With every person, there was a part of them that wanted to cry. Wanted to grieve. Wanted to heal and move on from everything that had happened to them. Knew that they had to at least just give themselves _time._

But there was also the other side.

The side that knew that they had to survive, and _keep_ surviving at that. Keep a stiff upper lip. Not let anything affect them. Build up as much of a wall as possible.

And that's what Sicheng had been doing, at the very least _trying_ to do.

They had all been trying. Some of them to bigger extents than others, but up to a certain point they had all built up a wall of some kind.

There was no saying how sturdy or strong any of these walls were, they were just there. Protection as it were, however flimsy it was.

Everyone in the house had agreed at one point or another that Sicheng had the strongest, biggest, most well protected wall. No one could get in, and they respected that. Admired that to some degree.

Sicheng, however, felt that some of his wall had started to crack since staying in the house. He couldn't tell whether he wanted to break it down or if he could patch it and repair it so it could never be affected again.

He knew this was impossible, though. One day that wall would break.

Maybe that's why he found himself on the floor of the bedroom, tears running down his cheeks as he stared up at the ceiling. He almost didn't notice Yuta coming to lay beside him.

"Are you okay?" Yuta asked in the softest voice he could. It seemed like a dumb question. One that someone might want to avoid asking in the current circumstances.

But in that moment, it was exactly what Sicheng wanted to be asked.

"I miss her. I miss my sister. I miss her so much." The quiet sobs broke Yuta's heart and made him reach for Sicheng's hand, squeezing it gently just to tell him he was there. And Sicheng squeezed tighter. "I miss her, Yuta."

Sicheng sobbed louder, covering his face with his hand, embarrassed to be feeling this way, like the wall he had built was meant to be him all along.

But it wasn't him. It was just a wall.

And it was being knocked down brick by brick.

"I know you do," Yuta replied, looking to his left. "You're incredibly strong."

Sicheng would've scoffed at that comment at one point, but instead he cried harder, holding onto Yuta's hand like it was a lifeline. He sat up slowly, and Yuta followed, not letting go.

"I wish she was here. I wish I didn't leave her that day. I wish I didn't… God, I wish I didn't…" Sicheng's voice faltered as his head fell onto Yuta's shoulder.

The older male didn't move an inch, and simply stayed there, letting Sicheng cry for as long as he needed to.

Hendery stood on the stairs with his back against the wall and looked at the pair sitting on the floor. His heart felt heavy, and he hugged himself close before moving down the steps. Xiao Jun was there to meet him at the bottom of the staircase.

"Come on," Xiao Jun spoke quietly, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. When they both walked into the living room, the first person Hendery made eye contact with was Jeno. Apart from the first day they'd met, the two of them never really spoke about that evening. It was almost a silent agreement to never speak of it, but once Jeno saw the look in Hendery's eyes, he stood up and approached him. The rest of them watched as Hendery and Jeno stood opposite one another; Xiao Jun took a step to the side, before Jeno and Hendery shared a long hug.

For the first time, Hendery shed the tears that he had been holding back for days. Some nights he would cry silently to himself. Most of the time he would push the horrible thoughts to the back of his mind to the point that it seemed like he could forget about them for a second.

But they never left. They were always there.

Every time he closed his eyes he saw his sisters. He heard them calling his name. Looking for him. He remembered all the times they would ask him to fill up the bottles of water. Jeno held him tightly.

"They were always looking for you."

Hendery cracked and poured his heart out onto Jeno's shoulder. In one corner of the room, Jungwoo hugged his knees close to his chest as he thought of his own sister. Forever embedded in his mind is the image of his sister turning into a walker right in front of him. Mark appeared at his side and rested a hand on his shoulder before putting his arm around him. Immediately, Jungwoo leaned into Mark and allowed himself to cry.

Since openly talking about how they had reached the house in the first place, they had never given themselves time.

Time to truly talk about it all. Time to truly break down those walls.

So, with two days left in the house, they let out all of their emotions.

Lost loves. Broken families. Friends left behind.

They took their time. They cherished it.

They leaned on each other, knowing they had one another.

Knowing they would have to be strong again soon.

This was their time for grieving, and they were going to use it.

\--

"It's crazy how quick shit like this makes you push so much to the back of your mind," remarked Johnny, a hint of bitterness in his tone as he smoked on his cigarette.

"No kidding," Doyoung shook his head. "It's like it's brainwashing you to forget."

Johnny lazily raised an eyebrow in agreement.

There was silence between them for a few seconds.

"She had a yellow jumper," Johnny suddenly spoke. Doyoung looked to his right and blinked. Taking another hit of cigarette, Johnny looked back at him, "I kept it with me after everything had happened but...I left it behind the morning I fled."

Doyoung pondered his words, putting the cigarette between his lips and inhaling. He took it out again and exhaled. A part of him wanted to ask questions, but decided it was best to let Johnny say what he wanted to say in his own time.

"I wish I still had it," Johnny sighed, throwing the cigarette on the ground and stamping on it once. Folding his arms, Doyoung took a final hit before copying Johnny's actions. Johnny could tell Doyoung was being careful with his words; he turned to his left. "What's on your mind?"

Doyoung paused for a second. "Donghyuck told me yesterday that he saw a broken skateboard. He wondered if it was the same one as yours."

Johnny blinked, "Did he say where he found it?"

"Along the side of the open road. It was split down the middle."

Nodding, Johnny confirmed it was his, "Sounds like mine. I wonder why he didn't mention anything."

"Maybe he thought it was just a coincidence."

There were a few more seconds of silence.

"I've never been super close with anyone," Doyoung admitted. "I found I could never trust anyone. I had a few friends, but again, we were never close."

"You left your workplace that day, right?" Johnny asked, to which Doyoung nodded.

"Got too stressed staying there. I needed to be on my own."

"But you stayed here," Johnny deadpanned.

Doyoung let the words circulate in his mind for a while.

"But I stayed here."

"Why did you stay here?"

Johnny and Doyoung turned to see Ten standing there, who spun a cigarette around his fingers a few times before putting it between his lips. He moved to stand to the left of Doyoung and lit the end.

Truthfully, Doyoung had to think of an answer. He never imagined he would attach himself to another group, at the very least so soon after leaving the last one. Doyoung wanted to be on his own.

But he had stayed, even when more people showed up.

“I have to be honest, I don’t really know what made me stay here. Something did, though.”

“Maybe you’ll find the answer soon enough,” Johnny replied, patting Doyoung on the back a couple of times before walking back inside, passing Kun along the way.

“How are you two doing?” Kun asked them as he stood to the right of Doyoung.

Ten shrugged, and Doyoung sighed. Despite the silence, Kun was at least thankful they spared him the slightly sarcastic comments in the face of what was always going to surround them.

“What about you?” Doyoung wondered, understanding his sigh to be enough of a response for Kun.

Shaking his head slightly, Kun said, “Everything’s a mess, I know that for sure.”

“You’ve done well,” Doyoung admitted. Kun glanced up at him, knitting his eyebrows together. “You’ve taken a lot of people under your wing and therefore made all of us do the same where some people would just throw them back out into the wild.”

“That _is_ admirable,” Ten concurred, before turning to look at the older male. “You’ve reminded us all of a very important part of surviving.” Kun looked back at him with a blank expression. “Responsibility.”

When the word registered itself in Kun’s mind, he clicked his tongue and stared at the floor.

“And now we’re responsible for a whole group of people,” Doyoung exhaled.

“Very true,” Kun nodded. The other two noticed his tone and looked over at him. “Sometimes I look at them and wish I could do more for them. Like I wish I was able to kill walkers.”

Doyoung and Ten eyed one another, remembering his story. The fact that it didn’t matter if he came face to face with a walker, he still wouldn’t be able to bring himself to kill it. Ten passed Doyoung and stood directly opposite Kun.

“You do so much for them, without doing any of that,” Ten reassured him. “As we’ve _just_ said, you gave them a place to stay when I think everyone else out there would _not_ have done the same thing.”

Kun looked off to the right and hid his lips in thought. “I just… I just sometimes wish I could take away all the pain from this...catastrophe.”

Doyoung rested a hand on Kun’s left shoulder, “Despite the magic tricks you are no magician.”

Kun couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the comment, a tiny grin breaking through as he turned to look at the two others.

“They’re right, Kun,” Taeyong’s voice spoke from the kitchen. Doyoung let his hand fall and they all turned to see the redhead join them. “Thanks to you above everyone else, none of us are dead.”

Immediately, Kun had to refute the statement, “We’ve all pulled our weight here. We’ve all done something to contribute. I’m not the only--”

Taeyong interrupted him, “But you’re the one that gave them a _chance._ You’ve given us all a chance effectively. Thank you for that.”

The two of them then shared a quick hug. Doyoung and Ten exchanged looks, knowing that while Taeyong was the leader, Kun stood alongside him.

\--

The days seemed to get longer. It was still day twenty, and the sun was still shining brightly in the sky, a stark contrast to the world beneath it.

“Tomorrow’s our last day,” Taeil hummed to no one in particular, despite how many people were in the living room and could hear him. “How did we get this far?” He stared down at the vodka bottle in his hands. _‘How do I still have this?’_ Letting out a scoff, he took a couple of sips before resting it on the floor. It wasn’t the best thing to drink, and honestly, Taeil had begun to hate it, but he didn’t want to drink much of the water. Others in the house needed it more.

Over the course of the three weeks, Taeil had changed, and he wasn’t the only one. To his right, Jaehyun looked over at him and tilted his head to the side. “You’re thinking.”

Taeil glanced back, and Jaehyun noticed his slightly puzzled expression, like thinking wasn’t something they were all doing at some point. But it then started to make sense. “I’m thinking.”

“What about?”

By the windows, Taeyong and Kun sat with the teenagers and talked them through the plan. Taeil regarded the two of them with a confusing mix of emotions. There was something akin to pride in there, a layer of fear, a hint of sadness and a speck of pain in his chest. The pain seemed to win over as Taeyong and Taeil met each other’s eyes. The redhead smiled hopefully, like he could see all of the emotions in Taeil’s eyes, causing the older male to break the eye contact to pick up the bottle of vodka again and take a drink from it.

Jaehyun followed his eyes. “You two have always been on the same page about things,” he commented, and Taeil avoided looking at him in favour of staring at the faded, ripped label on the bottle.

“You think?” Taeil muttered under his breath, but Jaehyun heard him.

“Absolutely. Even with this plan to leave. I think Taeyong always agreed with the idea of leaving. It just took him awhile to come to terms with it.” Jaehyun looked back over at him. The air between them seemed a little warmer than the rest of the living room. Or the rest of the house for that matter. 

A small _hm_ escaped Taeil’s lips as he exhaled and put the bottle back on the floor.

It always felt like a waiting game, seeing what would happen next. At the end of the day, as prepared as they may be, they can never truly be ready.

Collectively, their minds were like clouds of dust that never seemed to clear.

And where there’s a cloud, there will most likely be rain.

\--

The cracks in the ceilings got bigger and bigger with each hour that passed and with every movement they made on the hallway upstairs. The house truly was fragile. If it wasn’t a cupboard door almost inexplicably falling off its hinges, it was the bottoms of the chair legs wearing away with the amount of times they were pulled in and out of the dining table and along the wood below it.

“Do you think we’ll have enough food for the journey?” Lucas asked Kun, because of course the question was directed at him. Kun was no magician, but he was the only chef in the house.

Kun looked around him, standing at the kitchen counter as Lucas stood to the right, “I… Maybe. I’m not sure. We might have to go out again tomorrow to see if we can pick up any last scraps.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Mark announced from afar, and Kun and Lucas glanced over at him standing with his arms folded, his back against the old granite counter. The younger looked back at them before pushing himself off the counter to stand to Kun’s left. The two of them followed his movements. “Can I confess something?” They nodded. “I’m terrified of being out there.”

Instinctively, Kun wrapped an arm around Mark’s shoulder, and it seemed to be what the younger needed as he moved closer to Kun.

“We just never know what’s out there. We don’t know what the world’s _really_ gonna be like. And...I’ve been thinking. I don’t think we should head north.”

His voice was low so that others wouldn’t hear him. Kun and Lucas exchanged glances before eyeing him again. “Why?” Lucas whispered.

“I think it’s too dangerous to move up north.”

“Where do you suppose we go, then?” Kun wondered, partly sincere, and partly in disbelief that Mark was considering other options. Because north was really the only place they could go. In _their_ minds, at least.

“I think we should head south,” Mark swallowed the lump forming in his throat and gradually looked up at Kun, a little embarrassed by his own decision-making, since everyone else was sold on the idea of going north, then heading east.

“South?” Kun reaffirmed, and Mark nodded his head. Looking behind him, Kun scanned the room until his eyes settled on Taeil, who was sitting on the sofa with Donghyuck and Renjun. His gaze softened and his eyes found the ceiling briefly before he returned his attention to Mark. Then, he looked over his head and outside, where Taeyong was sitting, twirling a cigarette around his fingers like he was contemplating smoking it. Sitting across from him was Sicheng, the two of them discussing something that none of them could hear. Kun watched Taeyong put the cigarette in his mouth and saw Sicheng light the end. He exhaled and let his arm fall from Mark’s shoulder.

“You’re going to have to talk to them about it,” Kun stated, indicating Taeil and Taeyong like they were the two main overseers, forgetting what the latter had said about his own position within the team, and also somewhat forgetting that everyone else needed to know about this too. Mark looked back and forth between Taeil and Taeyong, then between everyone else who were either in the living room or in the kitchen at that moment.

“When did you start thinking about this?” Lucas piped up.

“Last night,” Mark said after a time. “I don’t know what it is but...I have this gut feeling that going up north won’t be the right choice.” His voice slowly grew more panic-stricken, and Kun quickly calmed him.

Outside, Taeyong looked into the house at the trio moving away from the kitchen counter. He knitted his eyebrows, wondering what they could’ve been talking about. It mattered too much at this point.

“When did you dye your hair?” Sicheng asked randomly. Taeyong met his curious gaze and let out the weakest chuckle he could muster. Tapping off the end of his cigarette, he tried remembering exactly when.

“20… Hmm… Either 2027 or 2028. One of the two. Definitely around five-ish years ago.”

Sicheng hummed and took a hit of his cigarette. Wondered how they hadn’t managed to go through all of their packets yet. Taeyong and Yuta had stopped smoking as much. Jaehyun hardly did at all. Himself, Doyoung, Ten and Donghyuck did the most. Taeil tried not to. As for the others, he couldn’t tell.

They stayed silent for a while, their heads feeling slightly dizzy. Sicheng tried not to think about earlier. He wanted to move on from it as much as possible.

“He was so stupid…” Taeyong mumbled. Sicheng glanced over at him. “Thinking we should’ve separated… Such an idiot.” He trembled a little as he threw the half of the cigarette he had left down on the floor. Sicheng moved a little closer and rested a hand on the redhead’s shoulder. Taeyong clasped a hand over his mouth as the first tears he had cried in what felt like weeks pricked at the corners of his eyes. Sicheng gazed at the sky briefly before looking back down at Taeyong. “He was such a…” He began to cry, covering his entire face with his hand and Sicheng pulled him in, Taeyong’s forehead resting on his shoulder. Biting the inside of his cheek, Sicheng tried to prevent more tears from falling as he looked into the house to see Jaemin standing there, cigarette in hand. He silently beckoned for Jaemin to join them and hesitantly, Jaemin did. Taeyong lifted his head to see Jaemin standing there. He tapped the seat to the left of him and Jaemin immediately sat down beside him.

“Are you okay?” he asked carefully.

“I’ll be fine,” Taeyong nodded, not meeting his eyes. Then he remembered. Jaemin had become separated from his own group. Not even by his own choice. He turned to the younger. “How about you?”

Jaemin sat up straight almost instantly, his words leaving him for a second. “Um...I’m… I’m okay.” He didn’t sound sure of himself. Glancing down at the cigarette in his hands, he muttered, “They left me behind.”

Taeyong nodded slowly, “I know.”

“And you took me in.”

“We did,” Taeyong replied.

Jaemin looked up at him, glassy eyes and cheeks a little puffy. “Thank you,” he choked out a sob and Taeyong pulled him into a hug right away. The younger cried and Sicheng watched them before looking to his left and seeing Jeno approach the three of them.

“You don’t have to thank us,” Taeyong reassured him, “it’s okay.” Jaemin continued to shed tears, his eyes stinging and his chest in pain. Sicheng tapped Taeyong to make him aware of Jeno’s presence as he came to stand behind the two. Steadily, Taeyong pulled away and Jaemin looked up at him, then looked up at Jeno, who held out his hand for Jaemin to take.

“And….thank you...for...for saving me when…” Jaemin pulled up his sleeve to reveal the bandage that was still there. The graze from the bullet that skimmed his arm. They all remembered that day well.

“God...how does that feel now?” Sicheng piped up.

“Better. I can’t believe it happened over a week ago. All the days seem to be a blur.” Looking down at the bandage, he untied it to reveal the scar that the wound had left behind. Taeyong shook his head, briefly thinking about how, if it had gone slightly deeper…

 _‘No,’_ Taeyong stopped himself. _‘Jaemin’s okay. He’s here. That’s all that matters.’_

Exchanging a single glance, Taeyong and Sicheng nodded once before standing and going back inside, giving the two of them space. Jeno sat down where Taeyong once was and held onto Jaemin’s other hand.

“I’m so glad I’m here,” Jaemin said, staring into Jeno’s eyes. His voice kept betraying him as more tears fell down his cheeks, tears Jeno wiped away with his thumb every so often. “Another shot at life, eh? That’s what this house gave me. When I got left out in the forest like a fucking--” He stopped himself, along with Jeno who calmed him down before he could get angry.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re here now. We’re all here now.”

Jaemin nodded, holding onto Jeno’s hands tightly, like if he were to let go, Jeno and everyone around him would disappear.

Just like that evening in the forest.

“I’m glad I’m here too. I’m glad I got to talk things through with Hendery. I’m glad I got to meet the other people here. Including you.” Jeno reached out to cup Jaemin’s cheek.

The distance gradually closed between them. "Can I…?" Jeno began to ask, but Jaemin cut him off by nodding, and they kissed, unhurriedly. They held one another's hand and entangled their fingers together, Jeno running his thumb over Jaemin's thumb.

After a few seconds they pulled away, and smiled warmly at one another, Jaemin turning and resting his head on Jeno’s shoulder as he spun the cigarette between his fingers. Jeno pressed another kiss to Jaemin’s crown and rested his hand on the younger's thigh. Shortly after, Renjun and Donghyuck joined them, sitting to the right of them. They all exchanged looks and smiled.

“We were just talking to Taeil,” Renjun stated. Jeno and Jaemin lifted their eyebrows, intrigued. “He’s trying to get a verdict on when we all think we should leave. Like, the time of day.”

“Morning,” Jeno instantly voted. Jaemin nodded in agreement.

“That’s what we said,” said Donghyuck, putting a cigarette between his lips and lighting.

“I mean, it makes the most sense, right?” Renjun asked, the others signalling that they concurred. He glanced over to see Donghyuck exhale; he followed the cloud of smoke as it rose into the air before looking back down at the younger. “When did you start doing that?”

Donghyuck shrugged a little, “Hm, some time during me staying with the last people I was with.” Renjun pondered his words for a few seconds. He fell silent, and Donghyuck looked over at him, noticing the look on his face, “What’s up?” Hearing his voice brought Renjun out of his trance as he blinked and met Donghyuck’s eyes. The younger could tell that Renjun wanted to ask a question. “What’s on your mind?”

“The people you were staying with...what were they like?” Jeno and Jaemin looked over upon hearing that question, wanting to hear Donghyuck’s response as much as Renjun did.

“I said, didn’t I? Selfish bastards, the lot of them. Embarrassing, too. They didn’t care about anything else. As long as they got a drink and a game of cards at the end of the day, they were fine.” He took a hit of his cigarette. “I really should try and quit. Like Taeil.” He threw the remainder of the cigarette onto the floor, letting the smoke rise from the end. “As I said before, I never used to smoke before the apocalypse.”

“Did they encourage you to take it up?” Renjun wondered, and Donghyuck nodded, making the blonde inch a little closer to the neon-haired boy, like some form of protection. Donghyuck noticed and stared at him gratefully, like he knew what the gesture was for.

“One of them said to me one day, _Haechan, Haechan, go on, try a cigarette. You might like it._ Haechan is my nickname.”

“I like that nickname,” said Renjun. “But, I mean if it...makes you think about…”

Donghyuck contemplated his words, “Actually, call me Haechan if you want.”

“Haechan,” Renjun said once, and it instantly made Donghyuck feel so much better. Hearing Renjun call him by the name felt so different, and he liked hearing it a lot.

“Say it again.”

Renjun stared at him, “Haechan.”

A smile appeared on Donghyuck’s face, “Thank you.” Renjun smiled too and rested his head on Donghyuck’s shoulder. Donghyuck pressed a kiss to the blonde’s forehead, making him hum in response. Jeno and Jaemin watched them, grinning to themselves and chuckling a little. Donghyuck looked down at the older male, “What about you?”

Renjun lifted his head, “What about me?” Tilting his head to the side, Donghyuck stared at him with a look of slight disbelief, but didn’t want to push it, if Renjun’s reply was a sign that he didn’t want to talk about it. When he noticed the younger’s face, Renjun sighed, “There’s not much more _to_ say. I was cooped up in art school for God knows how long. I left with a group of guys who thought they had come up with a smart plan. I lost all of them along the way. It led me here.” Renjun shrugged, unsure of where to go from there.

Donghyuck eyed the floor in front of him, not knowing what to say. Renjun reached for his hand, their fingers interlocking instinctively. Jeno and Jaemin noticed them and glanced at one another.

“I’m glad that I was found and taken in. We’ve become a team, I’d say,” Renjun stated, and Donghyuck looked up at him.

“I’m glad I’m here too.”

\--

Among the grey clouds that were sitting in the sky, there was a sun beginning to set. One by one, it hit them that they would be out there in less than two days time. Surviving, or at least trying to. It was the first time that twenty-one felt like such a big number.

YangYang sat by the window, his legs stretched out in front of him. The glass was still broken from the bullet that came flying through it days ago. He looked through the hole that it left behind and saw a much clearer view of the outside world than the stained, quite moldy windows ever could. YangYang could see each distinct crack around the hole and along the glass. Looking down at his leg, he pulled up the right trouser leg and stared at his scar. In front of him, Chenle and Jisung sat down.

“That looks a whole lot better than it did on the first night,” Chenle commented.

“It does look a lot better,” Jisung agreed. YangYang nodded nonchalantly.

“So strange…” he muttered, before pulling down the trouser leg and looking out of the window once again. “This is some random house and we...all managed to find it. Some of us through sheer luck, some of us were looking for shelter...some of us got injured and had to be brought in.”

Chenle and Jisung exchanged brief glances.

“Some of us had to run,” Chenle mumbled under his breath, causing YangYang to regard him with a look of sympathy. They stayed silent for a few more seconds.

“There’s a reason we’re all here, right?” Jisung tentatively asked. “Like...there must be a reason we all came together under this roof.”

“You mean like fate?” Chenle wondered, and Jisung quickly nodded. “Hmm, maybe.”

“It is bizarre how we all turned up here over the course of a single _day,”_ YangYang remarked. “Maybe it _is_ fate.”

“Maybe,” Chenle shrugged.

Jisung stared out of the window and watched several more leaves fall from their branches.

“I think it is.”

\--

“You’re absolutely terrible at this game,” Johnny scoffed as he threw his cards down onto the table; it was his third win against Jaehyun, and he promptly leant back in the chair and put his hands behind his head to gloat about it.

“Nah, you’re just a cheater,” Jaehyun joked, grabbing the cards again to shuffle them. Johnny feigned slight offence as he leaned forward again, resting his forearms on the table and waiting for the younger to deal the cards out. No one was spectating them, apart from the odd time Mark and Lucas would look over to see Johnny win yet again.

They didn’t speak while Jaehyun reshuffled the cards and dealt them out. Jaehyun let his minder wander to and fro, and halfway through shuffling, he stopped and simply stared at the table. Johnny then clicked his fingers in front of Jaehyun’s eyes, waking the younger up and making him blink a few times.

“You okay?” Johnny raised an eyebrow.

“Um...yeah, I think…” Jaehyun then gave one card to Johnny before slamming the rest of the deck down on the wooden table, startling everyone that was nearby.

“Whoa, whoa… What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just…” Jaehyun rested his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands. Standing up, Johnny moved to sit to the left of Jaehyun and waited for him to reveal his face once again. “I wish I could’ve left with them.”

The elder immediately knew who he was talking about, remembering Jaehyun’s story. “You put yourself in enough danger leaving that night by yourself…”

“But at least if they were with me they could’ve had a better chance than living in that--” Jaehyun didn’t allow himself to cry, anger filling him more than sadness. Others in the room turned to observe Jaehyun growing increasingly more frustrated, and Mark appeared at his right, sitting down beside him.

“Hey, Jaehyun… I know you probably--” Jaehyun eyed him at the word _probably,_ “I know that you…” Mark struggled to find the right words. “You did what you thought was best for them. We know you knew that place inside out, or at least...come to know that place inside out. You made the best choice for them in that moment, because from what you’ve told us if they were ever caught--”

“They would’ve been dead. Like me, if they had found me that night.” Jaehyun straightened his back and took a deep breath in. “But that doesn’t mean…” He bit down on his bottom lip. He _didn’t_ want to cry. He _couldn’t_ cry. The two beside him could see him holding back.

“Let it out, Jae…” Johnny placed a hand on his forearm and squeezed it gently, giving him reassurance. Enough reassurance that Jaehyun cried his first tears. Quickly, a few others comforted him, saying no words, yet letting their actions do the talking.

Jaehyun didn’t feel so alone anymore.

\--

The night seemed to arrive much faster than the rest of the day had passed them by. In the living room, most of them sat either on the floor or on the two sofas, biding their time until the inevitable, which they all understood could be one of many things.

Upstairs, in one of the bedrooms, Xiao Jun and Hendery sat on one of the beds opposite one another. Everyone noticed how they hadn’t stayed apart from each other much since the first day they met. All of them wondered what inexplicable thing drew them together that wasn’t what they all witnessed.

Hendery looked up at Xiao Jun, “Did I ever tell you how brave you were for running away from those people that day?”

Xiao Jun met his eyes, before tearing away from them again. “Brave or stupid?”

“Definitely brave,” Hendery moved closer and took his hands. “You decided that the possibility of being alone was better than being with people you didn’t feel safe around, even though being alone would have posed more, perhaps bigger dangers. You’re remarkably strong.”

When Xiao Jun looked up again, he was met with Hendery cupping his cheek.

“You are, too,” Xiao Jun said after a time. Hendery let his hand fall. “Your sisters would be proud of you.”

It stung a little to hear Xiao Jun mention his sisters after everything he had spoken through with Jeno, but it was quickly overcome when the male opposite gently held both of his hands and entangled their fingers.

“Thank you for being there for me,” Xiao Jun whispered. “You didn’t have to say what you did when we met each other. You didn’t have to reassure me that the people I wanted to be away from had gone. You didn’t have to tell me the truth.”

“Why would I lie to you?” When Xiao Jun looked unsure of how to answer, Hendery filled in the blanks, “I understand. People out there will lie. Kill. Take shit that doesn’t belong to them. _Try_ and take shit that doesn’t belong to them. But I would never lie to you. I wouldn’t lie to someone who clearly wanted to get away from something because… I know how that feels. I wouldn’t want to put someone through that. I wouldn’t want to put you through that.”

Through his eyes, Xiao Jun thanked him once again, a tiny smile managing to work its way onto his face. They embraced, and Hendery whispered into his ear, “Thank you for being there for me too.”

“Always.”

A promise.

\--

Throughout most of the apocalypse, Ten had been by himself. Every time he woke up and remembered that there were twenty other people living in the same house, it overwhelmed him, to the point that most days, he would end up alone just for the sake of solitude.

The penultimate night was like most other nights as he sat on his own, upstairs, in one of the bedrooms. It was then when he heard a knock at the door, and an immediate voice saying, “There you are.”

Ten turned and saw Lucas standing in the doorway. “Hey, Lucas.”

“May I join you?” Ten nodded and indicated the space beside him where Lucas went to sit down cross-legged. “I’ve noticed for a little while… You tend to be alone.”

Ten swallowed thickly and looked off into the distance, “I’m used to being alone. The amount of people here is staggering. It’s sometimes too much.” Ten managed a weak chuckle and Lucas joined in.

“It is quite a lot of people when you think about it. And all cramped into this house too? Crazy.” There was a pause. “Why do you like to be alone?”

In an instant, Ten’s body stilled. He never liked being asked the question. It felt like he was being blamed for wanting to stay by himself, even if the person was either just intrigued, or concerned because, in this situation, being alone was more dangerous than being with people.

“I just...prefer it, okay?” he replied, guarding himself. Lucas didn’t take offence to it.

“It’s okay, I understand. You just wanted to be away from people.”

Wary, Ten cracked his knuckles a few times before exhaling loudly. “After I was told to stay away from my friends after doing something I had no choice but to do, I just didn’t want to attach myself to a new group. I wasn’t even going to stay here initially,” Ten turned to look at Lucas. “It was...Kun who told me that I could die out there. He told me that I should stay with them. Doyoung said he liked my attitude. Walking into that house, it was only the seven of us. I didn’t know there’d suddenly be three times that number.” Lucas nodded along with this explanation, taking in every word. “I guess my desire to go to another place at the time I suggested it was part of my subconscious telling me to distance myself and go back to being alone,” he admitted.

“Are you happy that you didn’t listen to that part?” Lucas questioned.

Ten thought about it. He looked up at Lucas. Nodded slowly. “So glad. I’m still alive.”

A tiny grin appeared on Lucas’ face. “That day, when my Mum told me to leave her behind, I was so adamant on staying with her. But she didn’t listen. She wanted me to get on my bike and go somewhere else.”

“I still can’t believe that…” Ten confessed, gazing at the younger male. Lucas shrugged, almost nonchalantly, even though he could still feel the full weight of what happened sitting on his back.

“A part of me still doesn’t know why I’m here. My bike broke down and someone stole it. That’s the only reason why I got to stay here.”

“But you’re an important part of this team. As everyone is,” Ten moved closer to him. “Despite the fact that I want to be alone, it’s comforting knowing there’s people around me whenever I wake up.”

Lucas looked up at him. They shared eye contact for a few seconds before a thought crossed Lucas’ mind. “Xuxi…”

“What?”

“Xuxi… That’s what my Mum always called me. She called me by that name the morning I left, and the night before. It was her nickname for me.” Ten felt tears welling up in his eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he saw his parents. It almost made him choke, thinking about where the two of them could be now. He looked down at a tearful Lucas, who desperately tried rubbing his eyes vigorously to stop them from falling, but they betrayed him. Ten pulled him close, and Lucas cried for the first time since that morning.

“We’re not alone anymore. None of us are. That’s what matters,” Ten whispered to him.

Lucas still wiped his eyes as he cried more. “Do you ever get worried that someone will pick up and leave in the middle of the night, leaving everyone else behind?”

Ten didn’t have to think about his answer. “No,” he shook his head, “I don’t.”

Lucas agreed.

\--

They had just finished eating dinner. It wasn’t a lot, as it never was, but they were thankful for some substance. Kun made sure that they had enough so they could travel in less than a day’s time, something they were all still coming to terms with.

Mark sat down on the floor in the living room, his back pressed up against the wall. He let out a long, drawn-out sigh, a mix of exasperation and tiredness. The room was mostly quiet, which always made him think of his hearing. He wondered why or how it had become so sensitive, always picking up on noises much faster than everyone else. Not to mention how much _louder_ they were to his ears.

Yuta sat beside him, “Hey, Mark.”

Mark briefly glanced over at him before looking forward again, “Hi.”

Yuta kept his eyes on the younger male, watching how he slumped down even further, taking deep breaths in and out. “You feeling alright?”

The question seemed to go in one ear and out the other, but after a few seconds he answered, “My hearing… Every time it goes quiet it just...makes me so aware of my hearing.”

“You’re sensitive to noises, right?” Yuta asked, without a hint of mockery or indifference.

Mark nodded, “That’s right. I don’t know how it happened but the first time I came out of my hiding place and saw walkers everywhere, heard people screaming, it...it freaked me out. From that day on I noticed that every time I heard a noise, my ears and brain...it would just take over. Everything sounds so much louder, so much closer. It’s like I’m being infected but just through sound alone.” Yuta sighs sympathetically, not being able to imagine what that’s like. “If I’m distracted, if I’m just dealing with walkers at a fast pace, it doesn’t affect me as much. I can just sort of get through it and get past it. But simply hearing it?” He shakes his head defiantly. “Nope.”

“Didn’t you say the people you were with made fun of you for that?” Mark nodded in response, and it angered Yuta to hear. “How can people be so fucking cruel? I bet you’re happy you’re away from those dicks.”

“Happy is an understatement.” A few seconds passed. “I had already left home by the time it started. I don’t even know where my family is now.”

Yuta regarded him with gentle eyes, then looked away, “My Mum didn’t think there was an apocalypse going on. The day I returned and saw she had been turned into one…”

Mark reached for his hand and Yuta immediately held onto it. Others in the living room and kitchen overheard their conversation, their minds hazy.

“We both had our hiding places,” Mark smiled lazily, but there was no joy to it.

“We definitely did. I still remember the day I left one of the people there gave me canned peaches. Remember, I shared them with everyone here?”

“That’s right,” Mark replied. “They were nice peaches. Don’t know if we’ll ever eat fruit like that again. Or food like that again.” Yuta stared down at his arm; the scar was still visible, and it was a lot fainter than usual. Mark looked over. “Are you surprised?”

“Hmm?” Yuta met his eyes.

“Your scar. Are you surprised they believed that you weren’t bitten?”

Looking over to the right, Yuta found Taeyong’s eyes as he was sitting at the table. The redhead nodded once at him; solidarity. “A little.” Yuta looked back over at Mark. “But then again, it pretty much looked nothing like a walker bite, so it wasn’t like I had to convince them.”

Johnny suddenly peered over the side of the sofa and looked down at Yuta, “Lies.”

Yuta glanced up at the older male “Okay, a _tiny_ bit of convincing then.”

“We were freaking out slightly. We had to truly know you weren’t bitten,” Johnny argued, and Yuta simply rolled his eyes.

“Well, I’m glad you realised that I wasn’t.”

The two of them smiled at one another before Johnny turned his head away. Yuta and Mark then exchanged glances, the former lightly and comfortingly patting the latter on the shoulder before standing up and walking over to the dining table. Mark exhaled and looked around him.

It may be quiet, but he enjoyed the silence more than the sounds.

\--

The zippo lighter in his hand seemed to get smaller and smaller by the day. The words carved into the metal were faded, but Taeil could still read them as clear as day. Like they had just been engraved into the lighter. 

He opened and closed the lighter multiple times until he heard a voice behind him, “You’ll damage it.”

Taeil recognised that voice immediately. “Come out for a cigarette, Tae?”

Taeyong pushed himself off the wall and let out a quiet chuckle before moving to sit beside the eldest. “Hmm, not sure. It’s been a few days.”

“Liar, you had one earlier on today.”

“Barely smoked it. Probably had two puffs and threw it.” Taeil hummed before putting a cigarette in between his lips. “Thought you were trying to quit too anyway.”

“I am. This is me trying.” He lit the end and inhaled before taking it out and exhaling.

They were quiet for a while. Taeyong looked down and saw the lighter sitting in Taeil’s lap. The message from Taeil’s Dad caught the redhead’s attention. “Do you miss him?”

Taeil looked over at Taeyong, then looked down at the lighter before staring at the world in front of him. “Yeah… I do miss him.”

“When did he get that for you?”

“21st birthday. I don’t know why. I never told my parents that I smoked. Maybe he found a box of cigarettes in my room one day,” Taeil shrugged. “Probably why he didn’t let Mum know about it. Probably why it just says, _from Dad.”_ He continued smoking the cigarette.

“You kept that with you this entire time.” Taeil nodded at Taeyong’s words, saying that he didn’t want to lose it under any circumstances. It was the only thing he had to remember them by. “What about…?” The redhead stopped himself as Taeil swallowed the lump in his throat, instantly realising who Taeyong was referring to.

“Um, no… I don’t… Sadly.” Taeil wanted to say that whenever he heard a gunshot, it would take him back to that day, but he kept that part to himself. Taeyong noticed his tone and how his voice trembled. Taeil pulled up his sleeves and took a hit of his cigarette: Taeyong saw his tattoo.

Tilting his head so he could read it, he said, _“Rise free from care before the dawn and...”_

 _“..seek adventures,”_ Taeil said with him. “Yeah, 21st birthday too. Seems so void of anything now. What the fuck does it even mean?”

“I mean...I guess it was a sign.” Taeil glanced over, slightly confused. “I mean, you arrived here at dawn, right? Maybe it was some sort of fateful symbol.”

“I don’t know what kind of adventure I’m seeking,” Taeil mumbled.

“The one that involves all of us.”

Taeil froze a little.

It took a few seconds for him to truly process those words. He thought about everyone else that was living in the house. The people that would be joining him. The people that had stood alongside him throughout all of this. Such as the person sitting to the right of him at that very moment. He recalled how he had acted that day when everyone seemed to arrive all at once. He remembered how much he hated the fact that there were so many people staying under one roof. He thought about how much had changed over the past few weeks.

On that first night, he didn’t want to think about the fact that they needed each other.

On the penultimate night, he wondered where he would be without them.

And what he would do if anything was to happen to them.

Taeyong put his arm around Taeil’s shoulder as the older male fought back tears. He turned to the redhead, “I guess this is quite the adventure, huh?” His voice trembled more as Taeyong pulled him closer. “I’m so sorry…” His words trailed off and Taeyong gazed at him.

“Taeil…”

“No, I’m serious. I’m sorry for the way I was in the beginning. I acted unfairly. I just want all of you to be safe.”

“We will be. We will be,” Taeyong reassured Taeil as the latter discarded his cigarette.

The two of them stood up and faced one another. Taeil held out his hand for Taeyong to shake, but instead, Taeyong stepped forward and pulled Taeil into a hug.

Gradually, Taeil returned the hug. And it was a hug he really needed.

Soon after, they re-entered the house together and sauntered into the living room. Everyone had gathered there, and when they noticed the two of them walk in, they eyed the pair for a few seconds. Taeyong went to sit down on the arm of one of the sofas, and Taeil stood in the archway, observing the entire group.

One by one they all went back to talking among themselves, and Taeil’s heart felt full.

Yet there was also pain.

How could he have been so unrelenting? He cursed himself for the way he acted as he witnessed friendships and relationships blossom right before his very eyes.

He held the lighter in his left hand. Glancing down at his tattoo, he took in the words again.

_Rise free from care before the dawn and seek adventures._

The tattoo forever had a new meaning.

\--

Day twenty-one. Their last day.

When they realised it was almost going to be time for them to say goodbye to their only form of shelter, it was like they had been developing an attachment to the fragile house over the course of the three weeks.

“These beds...they were fun to sleep in,” Taeyong commented as he pushed down on the mattress and heard nothing but broken springs.

“Yep, and the one _without_ the mattress was _extra_ fun to sleep on!” Taeil said sarcastically.

“How did you not break your back?” Jaehyun wondered as he stood just outside the bedroom.

“God fucking knows.”

Downstairs, Kun inspected the kitchen several times to make sure he wasn’t missing anything. They agreed to go out and try and find any last bits of food before the night drew in, but Kun began opening cupboards and shelves, hoping that more food would appear out of nowhere.

“I hate to say it but, we’ve taken everything out of the kitchen,” he announced for the fourth time; everyone else hummed in response, knowing already.

“These windows are so cracked,” Jeno stated, shaking his head.

“I wonder how they got like this,” Lucas said, inspecting them closely.

“Wow, we’ve been here three weeks, we’re leaving tomorrow and _now_ we start asking questions about the house,” said Sicheng.

“We’ve always wondered about the house,” Jaemin made a point of saying.

“I guess it’s because it’s _finally_ sinking in that we’re leaving tomorrow,” Yuta remarked.

“Only now, eh?” Doyoung wondered, and a tiny chuckle escaped Yuta’s lips.

“Make sure you check the entire house so we’re not leaving any weapons behind or anything useful, thank you,” Johnny told everyone as he passed the entranceway to the living room.

“What’s it gonna be like when we finally leave?” Jisung asked, sitting beside Chenle. The purple-haired boy shrugged his shoulders, genuinely unsure. The pair were a little fearful of the outside world, but knew it would be for the best, as crazy as that sounded at one point.

“I swear these chairs were _much_ higher when we first arrived here,” Ten said, pulling out one of the chairs; a loud creaking sound was emitted and everyone around him winced.

“That’s probably why; it wore away against the wood,” said Kun, who clicked his fingers multiple times to keep himself busy so he didn’t check the kitchen cupboards for the fifth time.

“If you think about it, this house is really big. It was probably really expensive,” mused Renjun, arms folded as he looked around the living room. The candle ceiling light was partly broken. The edges of the coffee table were worn away at the edges. The two sofas were a faded green colour, with rips and tears in them. The wooden floor beneath them was just as cracked as the windows, and there were nails sticking up in random places. Most days, they had to be careful not to step on one, until Donghyuck remembered the hammer he had. They used that to bend the nails so they wouldn’t stick up, and they became less of a problem after that, although it still wasn’t fun accidentally coming across one.

Donghyuck came to stand beside him, “Are you gonna miss this place?”

“I think so, yeah.”

“I definitely will,” Xiao Jun chimed in. One by one, they all agreed that they would miss the house

After all, they _did_ call it home.

\--

The day went by too quickly for some, and too slowly for others. During the afternoon, Taeyong, Yuta, Sicheng and Jaehyun went out to see if they could find more food. There seemed to be even _more_ walkers to deal with, and what they returned to the house with wasn’t a lot, but it would be enough for them for the time being. Being in such a large group meant they learned how to ration, and did it pretty well.

It was just a matter of knowing what food they could keep for a longer period of time.

Things seemed to be going well: they had gathered all the food they could, all the supplies they needed, they checked over the house multiple times just to make sure that they had everything.

It was their last night in the house.

Small groups of them spent their time doing their own thing. They used this moment to relax a little bit. To let go just a tiny bit.

The group ate dinner.

Mark told them his idea about going South. Taeyong stared at him. An argument erupted in the house before Taeyong told them all to stop. He reiterated their plan before getting up and leaving, not listening to Mark’s protests.

That night, when they all tried to sleep, their plan went out the window.

A giant mob of walkers arrived at the house out of nowhere, and working together, they tried to stop them.

They soon realised that they would have to leave the house at that very moment.

In the middle of the night, with all of their supplies with them, Taeil let his zippo lighter go and the house slowly caught on fire as they crept out of it and into the nearby forest.

Looking back, they stared in shock as the place they had called home for the past three weeks became engulfed in flames.

Renjun said, “Say goodbye, friends.”

They all stood in a circle. Saw eye to eye. Held one another close before finding a place to set up camp for the night.

They lit a fire. Kun shared three energy bars between all of them.

A moment of reprieve that would only last a night. The truest moment of reprieve they had ever felt.

In the morning, they would be going back into the fray.

And they had to be prepared for it.

**Author's Note:**

> twitter: @littleredbean37


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